Obvious Heart
by n1c0le
Summary: Sequel to my fic entitled 'Tangled'. Dasey.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **_Okay, I was initially just going to make an epilogue to "Tangled," but a sequel begged to be written instead. So, here it is. If you haven't read "Tangled" yet, you really should to get the full effect. I'm not too sure where this is going as of now, but I have a few ideas, so we'll see. It'll be a surprise to us both :-p Okay, enjoy the first chapter!_

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I paced back and forth in the waiting room. I had never felt more nervous in my whole life. And pissed off.

"Why aren't the doctors telling me anything?" I had my thirtieth outburst in the last few minutes. I shot a look over at my family. My Dad was sitting on one of the chairs, looking tired, with a sleeping Marti curled up on his lap. Edwin and Lizzie were playing Hangman boredly.

"Derek, they'll let you know as soon as something happens," my Dad sighed, rubbing his eyes. "For now you just have to wait."

_Wait?_ I gritted my teeth and shoved my hands in my pockets, beginning to pace again. I was never a very patient person to begin with. But now… now my girlfriend/stepsister (_shut up and don't judge me!_) was in labor. Yes, she was giving birth. To my son.

And I wasn't there.

I wasn't surprised when she asked me if it was okay if she had her mother as her labor coach instead of me. I'm not going to lie, I was a tad bit hurt. But I didn't let her know that, of course. I mean, I knew nothing about labor. I don't even know how I would have reacted if I was in there with her. I don't think I could have handled seeing my Casey in so much pain. Plus, Nora had given birth twice already. So she was more experienced with that. Casey was probably better off with her there instead of me.

But it was torture waiting out here. It felt like it had been days. So far, it had been about four hours since Casey was rushed in with labor pains. I didn't even know how to handle _that_.

"_Derek…" Casey had spoke my name slowly, her eyes widening. We were cuddled up on the couch watching a movie. _

"_Yeees?" I drawled, only half-listening to her, focused on the TV screen in front of us._

"_Derek," she said my name a little more firmly now, a touch of fright in her voice._

_Now I unglued my eyes from the TV and looked at her. Her tone was off. She pressed a hand against her large stomach, biting her lip. I was about to ask her what was wrong, when her eyes suddenly closed and she let out a groan of pain._

_I leapt up then. "Case!"_

"_I think it's time Derek…" she looked up at me, her blue eyes clouded with pain and apprehension._

_I let out a string of curses as panic took over. What was I suppose to do? For some reason, in my panic, I did a lap around the living room._

"_Derek…that's not helping," Casey said, staring at me like I had lost it._

_I wasn't so sure I hadn't._

_Then I just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights. I couldn't even form a thought._

"_Get my Mom, Derek," Casey directed me._

_Still in my stupor, I blindly ran into the kitchen. Nobody. I ran into the basement, where our parents slept. Nobody. I ran upstairs. For some stupid reason, I went into my bedroom first. Like the whole family was going to be in there just hanging out. After that I realized that was stupid, so avoided Casey's room altogether. I burst into Marti's room. Nora was in there, helping Marti clean up another mess she had made._

"_Hey, it's polite to knock!" Marti cried indignantly._

_I ignored her and stared at Nora. I had forgotten what I had to tell her._

_Nora looked at me strangely as I just stared at her. "…Derek?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"_

_Wrong? Right…wrong…pain…labor…baby…Casey! "Casey!" I blurted._

_Nora stood up now. "Casey? What's wrong with Casey?"_

"_Labor," I managed to get out dumbly._

"_What!" Nora quickly ran out the door. I followed, feeling stupid. We hurried down to the living room. Casey was now off the couch, crouched down on the floor, holding her stomach and crying in pain._

"_Mom, it hurts!" she exclaimed, tears in her eyes._

"_I know, sweetheart," Nora sank down to the floor with Casey and gave her a big hug. She glanced over at me. "Derek, go start the car for me!"_

_Thankfully, I snapped back to life just then. I grabbed Nora's keys and ran to the car, not even bothering with a jacket even though it was chilly out. I shoved the keys into the ignition and started it up. I looked over to see Nora helping Casey out of the house. I quickly jumped out of the driver's seat and opened the back door. I helped Nora slide Casey into the backseat._

"_You want me to drive?" I asked, taking control._

_Nora shook her head. "You stay with Casey and keep her calm. I'll drive."_

_I climbed into the backseat with Casey and shut the door. Casey immediately grabbed my hand. It was slick with nervous sweat._

_I pulled her over to me, kissing her forehead. "Don't worry, baby. We'll get through this. You'll be okay. We'll all be okay." I stroked her hair and she sniffled against me._

_As we drove, Casey had another contraction. She cried out in pain, and I felt my heart squeeze, knowing she was hurting and there was nothing I could do to help. I just let her take my hand in a death-grip and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the bottom of my sleeve. _

"_Keep breathing, Case. Just keep breathing," I told her, gently rubbing her back._

"_Derek, I'm so scared," she whispered when her contraction was over. She _did_ look terrified. _

"_I know you are, honey," I used my most gentlest, un-Derek-like voice possible. "The doctors are going to help you, though. Sooner than you think, you'll be holding our little boy in your arms." I gave her a soft smile._

_She gave a half-smile back, all she could muster up at that time. I was grateful to see that little smile, though. _

"_Everything will be fine, Case," I kissed her forehead again._

_We made it to the hospital in record time, and Nora and I both helped Casey hobble into the ER. Nora signed her in as I grabbed the first wheelchair I saw and helped Casey into it. _

"_You'll stay here?" Casey asked nervously. "Here in the hospital?"_

"_I wouldn't leave unless you were leaving with me," I promised her. Did she honestly think I would just go home and play video games while she was in labor?_

_She gave a relieved nod and closed her eyes as another contraction began._

"_Can't anybody give her some pain medication!" I yelled._

_A nurse appeared and wrapped a hospital bracelet around Casey's wrist. "Casey, I'm Nancy," she spoke, "We're going to take her to the maternity ward," Nurse Nancy told me._

"_What do I do?" I demanded._

"_Wait here in the waiting area, Derek," Nora came over to us. "I just phoned George. He's coming with the kids."_

"_So we all have to just wait here?" I was not happy. I looked down at Casey. She looked so scared I just wanted to take her into my arms._

"_I'm afraid so," Nurse Nancy gave a smile. I wanted to slap the smile off Nurse Nancy's face._

_So this was the last time I was going to see Casey before we were parents. She looked up at me. _

"_I'll be okay," she murmured as Nurse Nancy and Nora spoke to each other._

_Casey was now the one comforting ME? Shouldn't it be reversed?_

_It made me want to kick myself. But it made me want to kick myself even harder because I actually needed to hear her say that._

"_I love you," I mouthed to her, not knowing anything else for me to do._

_She smiled this time. A real smile, despite everything that was going on and how scared she was. "I love you," she mouthed back right before Nurse Nancy wheeled her off. Nora patted my shoulder and then followed Nancy and Casey, leaving me there alone in the waiting room feeling helpless._

_My Dad and the kids showed up about twenty minutes later. I was sitting on a chair numbly, staring off into space. They each tried to get my mind off of things, but it was no use. And then I began pacing._

I had been pacing ever since.

"You've probably lost ten pounds with all of the pacing you're doing," Edwin commented.

I shrugged and continued.

"Derek, have you eaten anything? Lunch? Dinner?" Dad asked.

I shrugged again. I hadn't. I think the last meal I had was breakfast. It was past dinnertime by now.

"I think we should all go to the cafe and get something to eat," Dad stood up.

I just glared at him. "I'm not leaving."

"We'll eat fast. Fifteen minutes. Nothing will happen in fifteen minutes," Dad continued.

"You don't know that," I protested.

"We'll go tell the front desk that we're going to the cafe. They can page us if anything changes," Lizzie said sensibly.

I contemplated this. My stomach _was_ growling. And a nurse _could_ call me if anything changed. Plus, it _would_ be nice to get away for a bit. A change of scenery.

"Fine," I said somewhat reluctantly. I dragged my feet as I followed the gang to the cafe. I was so antsy, wanting to see Casey, that my brain could barely focus enough to look at the food that they were serving in the cafe. Dad, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti had already picked out their meals, paid for it, and were now eating at a table. I still hadn't picked out anything.

I stared at the sandwiches like it was some big decision.

"The ham and cheese is good," a voice came from next to me. I hadn't even realized that anybody was near me. The cafe wasn't exactly a "hopping place" at this hour. I glanced to my right and saw a girl, about my age, smiling back at me. She had dark blonde hair, but that was about all the features of her that I could get my brain to focus on.

_Wow, I'm _completely_ out-of-it_, I shook my head to myself.

I looked back at the sandwiches and then at the girl. She was waiting for a response, I think. I just gave her a blank stare.

"Do you…speak English?" she asked very slowly.

I tried to snap myself out of the daze I was in yet again. "Uh…yeah."

She smiled. "That's good. Long day?"

That I could understand. I nodded vigorously. "The longest." I grabbed a ham and cheese and the first bottled drink I found, and brought it to the cashier. The girl followed me.

"I'm here for my friend. She's having an operation," the girl rambled. "How about you?" She twirled her hair and bit her lip, trying to look sexy.

She was trying to flirt with me!

Imagine, some girl trying to _flirt_ with me while my _girlfriend_ was giving _labor_ to our _child_. I was actually offended at the girl's audacity. Even though there was no way for her to know any of that. But still!

I paid the cashier and spun around. "My girlfriend is in labor," I snapped at her and huffed off, leaving the girl speechless.

I sat down next to Lizzie at the cafe table. I tore open my sandwich and ate it quietly to myself.

"How long does it take to have a baby?" Marti whined as she picked at her macaroni and cheese. She was getting cranky from being in the hospital for so long.

"Awhile," Dad told her. "It took your mother twelve hours to have you, Marti."

"Twelve hours?" Edwin's eyes widened. "I sure hope Casey doesn't take that long."

"Me neither," I spoke up and all four heads turned to me. I simply took another bite of my sandwich.

"Paging the MacDonald-Venturi Family…" was all I heard over the loudspeaker before I bolted up and started running. I stood at the elevator for about two seconds, decided it was too slow, and took the stairs. I sprinted and made it down to the main lobby in record time.

"MacDonald-Venturi," I managed to gasp out, my heart racing as I panted. The nurse stared up at me through her thin-wired glasses.

"Ah yes. You can go up to the maternity ward," she said simply.

"Did she…have…the baby?" I panted.

The nurse shrugged. "I was just told that you are allowed to go to Maternity."

I took a deep breath and began running again. I had no idea where the hell the maternity ward was. The first hospital staff person I found, I asked. Or more like demanded it. He said it was on the ninth floor. So, I found the stairs, and I booked it up nine flights.

There was a front desk, and I practically lunged at the woman sitting behind it. "Casey MacDonald," I said hoarsely, my fingers gripping the desk and sweat dripping down my face.

She looked a bit scared. "Room 923."

I ran down the hall, looking at every door for the right number. When I found it, I didn't even bother knocking, and just kind of charged in. Then my racing heart just seemed to stop.

Casey was there, on the hospital bed, looking exhausted and sweaty. And there, in her arms, was a little bundle of light blue blanket. Casey looked up at me. There were tears in her eyes, but her face still held a bright smile. She was literally beaming.

"Derek," she said.

I just stared at the bundle in her arms, not daring to move.

The nurse and Nora both excused themselves, leaving us alone. The door shut behind me, and I still stared.

"Come see our son," her voice was soft in the silence.

I slowly willed my legs to move and made my way to the bed. There, I looked down into my son's sleepy face. His eyes were wide and blue, and he looked up at me as if he knew who I was. Casey looked up at me and I tore my eyes away from the newborn to look at her. She moved over gently, making room for me to sit next to her. When I did, she carefully placed the tiny baby in my arms, showing me how to hold him just right.

He yawned up at me, his lips, small but full like Casey's, parted, displaying his tiny pink baby gums. He blinked and waved one tiny hand in the air. I let him wrap his small fingers around my finger. I felt Casey reach up and brush a tear away from my face. I didn't know I had been crying.

I hadn't cried since I was a young boy.

"Case," I choked out, staring at the baby in wonder. I couldn't believe he was mine. A product of me and Casey together. "He's perfect," was all I could say.

She gave a short laugh, wiping away her own tears, and nodded in agreement.

"Hey there, buddy," I spoke to him softly as he stared up at me. I wanted to say so much. But all I could do was smile down at him. My son.

I glanced over at Casey. Tears were still running down her face as she smiled. I leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on her lips, silently telling her how much I loved her.

The door was knocked on, but I was too happy to care about being interrupted. Without a "come in," my Dad peeked his head in.

"Okay for company?" he asked Casey.

She gave a nod and a smile. "Come on in."

And the troops filed in. The entire family.

"Oh my Gosh!" Lizzie gasped out when she saw her little nephew in my arms.

I held him proudly as they all oohed and aahed over him. My Dad even shed a few tears. The emotional women—Nora, Casey, and Lizzie—all cried and hugged each other. Edwin took turns staring at the baby in awe and rubbing the crying Lizzie's back. Marti made funny faces at the baby.

My Dad patted my back. "He's beautiful, son," he said to me.

I was completely swollen with pride. I gently handed the baby back to Casey, and everyone gushed over him once again.

"Do you have a name for him?" Edwin asked.

Casey and I smiled at each other. We had just finally decided on a name we both liked about two days ago. Just in time, eh?

"Tell them, Case," I wrapped an arm around her.

"Jacob Michael McDonald-Venturi," Casey announced proudly.

Everyone "awwwed" and seemed to like it.

"How'd you come up with that?" Lizzie asked. She knew that with Casey, all things had to be significant.

Casey smiled at her sister. "Well, Jacob is Derek's middle name—"

"And Michaela is yours," Lizzie finished with a smile, realizing it.

The baby let out a little coo, seeming to like the name.

"It's a beautiful name," Nora smiled approvingly. "It suits him."

It did suit him. He looked like a little Jacob Michael. Or a "Jake." I would definitely be calling him Jake. Jacob Michael was just way too long. That's why Marti's name was shortened from Marguerite.

The nurse came in to take Jake. It was probably good, because he looked over-stimulated and was probably ready for a nap. Of course, I didn't want to let him out of my sight. I followed the nurse and Jake to the nursery, and watched him through the window with a few other adoring fathers.

"That one's mine," the guy to my left told me. He was a business-type looking man, probably late 20s to early 30s. He beamed as he pointed out a kicking baby girl in the sea of cribs.

"That one's mine," I replied, gesturing to Jake. He was asleep already, looking peaceful and tranquil. Perfect. I smiled widely, and the man and I nodded to each other before I walked back to the room. Everyone was gone, except for Casey, of course. She was laying back, her eyes looking heavy.

"There you are," she gave a tired smile when I walked in.

"Did everyone leave?" I questioned, sitting down on the chair by her bedside.

She nodded. "The kids were getting tired. It's late. Mom and George figured you'd want to stay with me and Jake."

I gave a short smile. "They figured right." She reached over and took my hand. I stroked the pad of my thumb against her palm. "You should get some sleep, too. You look exhausted."

"I am," she admitted. "But what about you?"

"I'll stay right here," I told her.

She wrinkled her nose. "That chair can't be comfortable."

I chuckled. So stubborn. "It's fine, Case. Get some sleep."

She smiled, pulling me over to her and kissing me gently. She was asleep literally within seconds. Of course, as soon as she fell asleep, I snuck back over to take a peek at Jake through the glass again. He was sleeping still, looking as angelic as his mother. I smiled to myself.

Man, was I becoming a sap.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **_Aww, thank you all so much for all the reviews! You make me blush ;-) hehe. So here's the next chapter... and I've also started another LWD fic (I couldn't help myself hehe) that I'll be posting soon. Hope you enjoy:-)_

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The following day, Casey and our Jake were released from the hospital. Casey was feeling fine, or so she said. I could tell she was still exhausted. I held Jake in my arms as my Dad drove us home from the hospital. Casey laid her head on my shoulder and drifted off to sleep as soon as the car started moving. I stared at Jake the whole ride home.

He was so small; I had forgotten how tiny babies were. It had been years since Marti was a baby, and I don't really remember Edwin as a baby. He was wearing a blue set of fuzzy pajamas that Nora had sent up with my Dad. It was a little bit big for Jake, but he looked nice and warm in it. I kept him wrapped up in his blue hospital blanket and held him close to make sure he didn't get cold. It was mid-autumn, and the biting Canadian winter air was beginning to show signs of its incoming.

The nurses had said that Jake was "an angel." He slept for most of the night, and when he did wake up, he only cried for a few moments before settling down by himself. They said he was the quietest baby in the nursery. That was surprising, seeing as how Casey and I were his parents. We had never exactly been known for our quiet presence.

Jake was now awake, just looking around, taking everything in. His mouth dribbled a little, and I carefully brushed the drool away with the corner of his blanket. He stared up at me when I did that, and all I could do was stare back in awe as he seemed to study my face. It was like he knew who I was.

"Hey buddy," I said softly, giving him a smile. He just continued watching me, his blue eyes so inquisitive and curious. I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his chubby little cheek. I couldn't believe he was really my son. That I was really a father. It all seemed so surreal.

The car stopped and I looked up to realize that we were home. I glanced over at Casey, who was totally zonked out on my shoulder, her lips parted and face peaceful.

"Case," I whispered gently, nudging her with my elbow, as my hands were quite full.

She stirred and then mumbled a sleepy, "_Whaaa_?"

"We're here," I hid a chuckle and watched her slowly sit upright. She yawned and looked over at Jake in my arms. She smiled then.

"Are you ready to come see your home, Jakey?" she asked in one of those Baby-Talk voices.

I groaned. "_Jakey_? Come on, Case. This kid is a _masculine_ kinda guy. Not a _Jakey_ kinda guy."

She narrowed her eyes at me, in a faux-angry glare. Then she smiled. "Let's bring him in now."

I was kind of excited to bring Jake into the house, too. "Ready, Jake?" I asked him. He stared up at me. I chuckled and saw Casey smile brightly out of the corner of my eye.

"Let's go," I said and we climbed out of the car. My Dad was waiting at the front door for us. I followed Casey inside.

"Surprise!" there was a chorus of cheers as we walked into the living room. The room had been decorated with crêpe paper and a sign that said, "WELCOME HOME, JACOB!" in Edwin's neat handwriting. In the room were the grinning faces of Nora, Edwin, Lizzie, Marti, Emily and her entire family, and a few other neighbors that Nora had actually become friends with.

"Oh my gosh," Casey covered her mouth with her hand, completely surprised.

"Where's my grandson?" Nora rushed over to coo over Jake, who remained silent yet alert in my arms. He seemed to be taking everything and everyone in though his wide eyes.

"He's so good," Lizzie said, noticing that Jake didn't make a peep through all of the commotion.

"He's the best baby," I agreed proudly, smiling down at him.

"Ooh, let me see him," I heard Emily say. She had been hugging Casey. Now she stepped in closer to me and peered down at Jake, who was starting to close his eyes.

"Ohhh!" Emily gasped. "He's SO cute, Casey!" She grinned and looked up at me. "Congratulations, Derek."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"Isn't he perfect?" Casey said with a dreamy smile on her face as she stared down at Jake fondly, leaning in closer to me.

"Oh stop, you're making me blush," I pretended that she was talking about me.

Casey and Emily both laughed.

"Not you, dork," Casey said affectionately.

"Dork?" I feigned hurt. "Is that how you're going to treat me in front of our children?"

"_Child_, Derek," she rolled her eyes with a smile still on her face. "We only have one child."

"For now," I answered.

Her jaw dropped slightly and eyes widened as they met mine in a surprised look. I didn't say anything. Neither did she. But we looked at each other for about a full minute. Our mutual stare was interrupted by Nora.

"Do you want me to hold him while you two open presents?" she asked us.

We both looked at her.

"More presents?" Casey squeaked. They had already bought us a billion things for the baby—bottles, diapers, formula, toys, clothes. What else could the tiny guy actually need?

I reluctantly handed Jake over to Nora, though, and Casey and I both sat down on the couch. Emily's mother thrust a present in our faces.

"Here," she announced, and Casey slowly took it from her with a "thanks." I watched her open it, pulling out a pair of blue pajamas with little circus animals printed on it, and one of those baby monitor things so we could hear Jake if he cried and we were in another room. It was a good idea.

"Thank you," Casey and I both thanked Emily and her parents.

Another couple, the Fablers, who lived across the street, gave us a 50$ gift card to some baby clothing shop. Again, a very nice idea.

Then, my Dad threw us a box. Casey let me open it, and my eyes widened when I saw a tiny jersey of my favorite hockey team, the Leafs, for Jake. That was incredible.

"Awesome!" I exclaimed with a grin. "He'll be the youngest Leafs fan."

My Dad laughed, patting my shoulder in a fatherly way. I couldn't wait to see Jake in it… maybe the two of us could watch the hockey game together tonight.

"Thanks, George," Casey thanked my Dad, knowing I was ecstatic about the jersey. Probably more excited than I should be.

"We have one more surprise," Edwin piped up.

I remembered what it was. Hell, I had helped set it up. I knew Casey was going to love it. I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto her feet with me. She looked over at me, confused.

"It's in your room," I explained to her.

Intrigued, she followed the whole group of us into her bedroom upstairs. Inside was a good-sized baby crib, white with blue and green printed sheets. My Dad had wanted to get yellow when we bought the sheets, since we didn't actually know what sex the baby actually was, but I told him firmly that it was going to be a boy, and picked out the blue sheets. The comforter was multi-colored, with the scene of a cartoon bear sleeping peacefully. There was a little mobile of matching bears that hung above the crib, and two stuffed animals already inside it. All in all, it was one hell of a crib.

Casey teared up at the sight. I figured it was probably because her hormones were all over the place still so she was overly emotional. She cried and hugged everyone, thanking them, and then buried her face in my chest to cry some more. I rubbed her back and ran my fingers through her hair, knowing she would calm down in a few minutes.

"Thank you so much," she said finally when she composed herself and disentangled herself from me. She hugged Nora and my Dad, then Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti.

That night, Nora prepared a special meal to celebrate. My Dad wanted to help, but I gave Edwin a look, and quickly he went to distract him, getting his mind off of cooking. Which George Venturi really should never be allowed to do.

"Jake is probably hungry," Casey said as we heard noises from the baby monitor. I followed her up to her bedroom, where Jake was now wide awake in his crib. He was making little noises, fidgeting, but not really crying.

"I'll go get some formula," I told her.

Casey shook her head, carefully picking up Jake. "No, you take Jake, I'll go get it." She smiled as she laid our son in my arms. I smiled brightly down at the little guy. I could already see bits of both me and Casey mixed on his little face. I sat down on Casey's purple comforter just as I heard a sing-song voice call, "_Smerrrr-ek_?"

"In here, Smarti," I answered her, and my little sister came bouncing into the room.

"Smerek, I wanna hold Jake. I didn't get to," she gave an indignant look, putting her hands on her hips. I could tell she was going to be the source of many ulcers in Dad's future. She walked over sassily and then stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "Pleeeease, Smerek?"

I sighed. I didn't know if it was a good idea. I looked at her pouting face, and relented. "Fine. But you have to do _exactly_ what I say, okay Smarti? You have to be _very_ gentle with him."

She nodded vigorously, and I had her sit down all the way at the top of Casey's bed, her back against the headboard. I told her to prop Casey's pillows on each side of her, and put a cushioning blanket on her lap, making it fool-proof. I wasn't taking any chances.

"Okay, Smarti, you have to hold him _just like this_," I showed her. She seemed as though she got it, so I gently placed Jake in her small arms. I sat right in front of her just in case.

Marti peered down at the bundle in her arms in wonder. "He's so little," she commented.

"You were that little too, once," I told her.

Marti scrunched up her face at the thought of it. Jake stared up at her.

"Is Jake my brother?" she suddenly asked me.

I coughed. I wasn't surprised that she was confused. It was confusing. Especially for a seven year-old. But I didn't really know how to explain things to her…

"Uh, no, he's your nephew," I corrected her, silently praying that she wouldn't ask any more questions about it.

"Nephew," she seemed to play with the idea as she gazed at Jake.

Thankfully, Casey walked in at that time. She looked a bit nervous for a split second, seeing Marti holding Jake, but saw the precautions I had taken and visibly relaxed. "I've got Jake's bottle," she said.

"Can I feed him?" Marti looked up at Casey.

I looked over at Casey, too. Casey looked hesitant at first, but slowly nodded. "Okay. But you have to be very gentle with him," she said to Marti.

"I will!" she looked giddy now.

I watched as Casey showed Marti how to feed the baby. But I wasn't watching what they were doing. I was just watching Casey. She was a bit heavier now than she had been pre-pregnancy, but not as much as everyone had figured. The doctor said it was because Casey has a fast metabolism, and Jake wasn't a very big baby. In fact, Casey barely even showed until she was several months into her pregnancy. I looked at her now. She looked great. Even in sweats and no make-up, with tangled hair in a messy ponytail and rings around her eyes, she still looked like my sexy Casey. A very tired, worn-out Casey, but a sexy Casey nonetheless. I knew her labor had taken a lot out of her, and she was still exhausted from it. After dinner, I was definitely going to insist that she go to bed.

Speaking of dinner, it was actually really good. Nora had went over the top, cooking a variety of different foods so we were completely stuffed in no time. After finishing, Casey sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. I placed a hand on her thigh. "Case, why don't you go to bed now?" I suggested to her.

She opened her beautiful blue eyes, the same eyes Jake had inherited, and sighed. "I'm sure Jake will be waking up soon—"

"I'm sure I can handle it," I interrupted.

She looked a bit surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," I nodded in affirmation. "Plus, Nora and my Dad are around in case I need them. You look like you're about to pass out at any minute."

Casey gave a soft chuckle. "I _am_ exhausted," she admitted.

"Then go to sleep. Sleep in my room so Jake won't wake you up. I'll take care of him for the night."

I knew she was floored. I kinda was, too. I was being uncharacteristically generous.

But Casey was worth it.

"Thanks, Derek," she gave a soft smile and pressed a warm kiss to my cheek.

"Just get some rest," I told her. She nodded, saying goodnight to everyone, and told me to wake her up if I needed her. I shooed her off with the wave of my hand and she went off to bed.

"That was very mature of you, Derek," Nora complimented with a smile. She seemed quite impressed.

I felt myself begin to blush, which was also very rare for me. I tried to hide it, but wasn't sure if I was really successful. "I should, uh, go check on Jake," I quickly got up and left the table.

Jake was still sound asleep, his face so peaceful. I felt a smile tug at my lips as I watched his rhythmic breathing. It was so hard for me to believe that I had actually helped create this little life. This perfect baby boy.

"Derek," a voice came suddenly, and I looked up, a bit startled. It was Nora. She smiled, having caught me staring at Jake. I probably had some goofy look on my face. But I didn't blush. "You have a phone call."

My eyebrows instantly knit together. I couldn't even guess who it could be. And I especially would never have guessed who it actually was.

"Yeah?" I asked curiously into the receiver after walking downstairs and picking up the phone.

"Hey, Derek," the familiar voice replied.

Sam.

"Sam?" was all I could reply with, completely taken by surprise. I kind of figured our friendship had ended when he found out about me and Casey. We had exchanged several words, none of them very pleasant, and went our separate ways. The only times we talked thereafter was during hockey practice and games—and _strictly_ game talk.

"Yeah, I uh…heard about Casey having the baby," he said quietly.

I pursed my lips together. "Uh, yeah, she did."

"What…uh…what is it?"

"A boy," I answered, not able to keep the pride out of my voice.

Sam seemed to let out a breath, as if he could barely believe it. "Wow." There was a pregnant pause. It was a bit awkward. Then, "Congratulations, man."

I had never in a million years expected THAT to come from Sam's mouth. I didn't even know what to say. So I just let out a chuckle. "Thanks, Sam. Thanks."

There was another awkward pause after that. I knew I had to say something. I took a deep breath. "Sam…I'm sorry." And I was. Sorry for the things I had said to him. Sorry for getting with Casey even though I knew he wasn't over her. Sorry for breaking our friendship to begin with. We had had a lot of good times in the past; we had been friends for years. It was dumb that I had let us end the friendship so abruptly. I tried to convey all of that with one "I'm sorry." And just like Sam, I knew he would get it.

"I know. Me too," he answered. "So…can I come see him?"

I smiled. "Sure, man. Come whenever."

"You think Casey would mind?" he asked, a bit of hesitance apparent in his tone.

"No." My Casey never held grudges. "Come visit tomorrow, if you want."

"I just might do that," Sam responded. And I knew we were back at peace.

I hung up the phone, thinking about how great my life was now.

And wondering what the catch would be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**_ Thanks so much for all the kind reviews :-D They make me all giddy, lol! And I wanted to note to Abster1_ _that I was sorry for not putting Jake in a carseat on the ride home from the hospital. George forgot it of course ;-) He never remembers anything does he! lol and the whole school situation will be clarified here too, for those who asked :-) Okay, now, here's the next chapter, I really hope you enjoy it!_

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As soon as I started falling asleep, Jake woke up crying. I rubbed my blurry eyes and turned on the light of Casey's bedroom.

"What's the matter, buddy?" I asked him, walking over to his crib. I had a hunch, and gently picked him up. "Got a wet diaper?"

He stopped crying as soon as I lifted him and cuddled him against my chest. I smiled, gently rocking him as I brought him over to Casey's bed and easily changed his diaper. I was an expert from when Marti was a little—one of the only things I remember of when she was a baby. When my Dad had Marti for weekends, he always had me change her. He was never one for diapers.

I put a fresh diaper on Jake and re-bundled him up in his fuzzy pajamas. I then looked down at him. He just stared back up at me, clearly not ready to fall back to sleep any time soon.

"Alright, let's go watch some TV," I said to him. I brought him downstairs. It was late, so nobody was up. I kept the lights off and turned on the TV. I settled down with Jake on my chest, feeling him instantly begin breathing slower and more evenly as I stroked his back, watching an infomercial intently. A few minutes later, I looked down and saw that he was completely zonked out. I smiled at his angelic face and closed my eyes, comfortably falling asleep with one hand wrapped around Jake protectively.

The next thing I remember was seeing a flash from behind my eyelids. I groaned, opening my eyes and blinking. Casey was grinning, holding a camera.

"I've never seen a cuter sight," she said, her eyes twinkling.

Jake fidgeted as I rubbed my eyes. Casey took one more picture and sat down next to us.

"How are my two favorite men?" she asked, leaning her head on my shoulder and pressing a kiss on Jake's bald little head.

I raised my eyebrows, looking down at her. "I'm one of your favorite men?"

"Of course," she smiled, now pressing her soft lips against my cheek. I allowed myself to smile back at her, pleasantly surprised at her small display of affection. I licked my lips, ready to lean down and capture her lips with my own, when I heard Nora's voice.

"Casey, is that you?" she asked, her voice signaling her approach.

"Yeah," Casey replied. "And Derek and Jacob."

Nora walked into the room and we looked up at her.

"My, you three are up early," she smiled.

I looked down. Sure enough, Jake's eyes were wide opened and he was looking over at Nora as well.

"How about I start breakfast?" Nora continued.

"Thanks, Mom," Casey smiled. She looked over at Jake. "He must be hungry," she moved over to take Jake. I let her take him, and instantly I felt colder without Jake's little body on me. I got up and stretched, lazily walking over to the kitchen.

Casey sat on a chair in the kitchen while Nora scurried around, happily making scrambled eggs and bacon. I sat down across from Casey and watched Jake suck on the bottle she fed him.

"Sam called me last night," I found myself saying.

Casey looked up at me, one eyebrow arched in surprise. "Oh?"

"Yeah."

She moved her head, impatiently motioning for me to continue. "And?"

"And…we're cool," I gave her a slow smirk.

She smiled. "That's great, Derek. I'm happy for you."

Jake finished his bottle and unlatched his pouty lips from the bottle. His head lolled to the side and his eyes closed as he fell asleep almost immediately.

Casey and I both laughed at this. "I guess I'll go put him in his crib," Casey said and left with the sleeping baby.

I laid my head on the table after she left, suddenly very sleepy too.

"No falling asleep, Derek, honey, you have school in a little over an hour," Nora said, setting a plate of eggs and bacon down in front of me.

I groaned loudly. Was she serious? It was a school day?

"Casey, your tutor's coming at noon today instead of ten. She called last night to say she had a quick meeting to attend before your lesson," Nora went on as Casey sauntered back into the kitchen.

Casey nodded. She had had a tutor ever since the school year started, not wanting to have to attend school with a huge pregnant belly. So Nora and Dad had hired a tutor who came three times a week. Apparently it was the equivalent to our Grade 11.

"Since Jake's here, do you think you are going to come back to school?" I asked Casey as I shoveled a forkful of eggs into my mouth. We had never discussed it.

"I don't know," Casey looked down at the glass of juice Nora poured for her. "I should probably stay here with Jake for now."

I studied her, wondering if she was bitter about missing school. She didn't look that torn up about it. Probably because with the tutor she could have more advanced work. She loved learning, so she probably was glad that she could learn more than she seemed to in school. But then, I felt bad that she was alone for most of the day.

"Yeah, probably," was all I said. "I mean…unless you want me to—"

She knew what I was going to suggest. And she instantly shook her head.

"No, Derek, you have to stay in school," Casey leaned across the table and put her hand on mine. It was warm and soft, just as all of her skin was.

"But you have to stay with Jake all day—" I started again.

"And I don't mind it," she said. She smiled. "It's my choice, Derek."

"But it's _our_ baby," I set down my fork.

She pursed her lips together, reading my eyes. I didn't break our eye contact.

"You have to stay. For hockey," she finally said, and brought her glass up to her lips, sipping it triumphantly. She knew she had me there. Hockey was my ticket into university. And now with a son to support, I definitely had to get a degree and a good job in the end.

I just sighed heavily. I'd let her win this round, I guess.

"How's Jacob?" Lizzie came into the kitchen, with Edwin trailing behind her yawning.

"Fine," Casey smiled at her sister. "I just put him to bed again."

"He sleeps a lot," Edwin commented, taking a seat next to me.

"All babies sleep a lot," Nora answered her stepson, handing him and Lizzie plates of food. "It's when they grow."

I finished my plate and stood up quickly, still having to take a shower and get dressed. Before getting into the shower, I checked on Jake. He was still sound a sleep. I re-tucked him in and lovingly ran a hand along his bald head in a sort of pat.

After my shower and getting dressed, I was almost running late. I booked it down the stairs, and saw Casey curled up on the coach of the living room, reading a book.

"You better hurry or you're going to be late," she warned when she saw me.

"Yeah, yeah," I said uncaringly. I stopped to brush my lips against the top of her head. She smelled of honey and baby powder. It was intoxicating. I knew if I didn't keep walking then, I wouldn't be able to leave.

"…Later."

She smiled up at me, surprised but happy. "Later," she repeated after me.

I smirked and quickly left the house.

For the first time in months, Sam walked over to me while I was at my locker. It felt so strange, since I hadn't seen him even look at me in so long. Never mind visit me at my locker.

"Hey," he said, shifting his books awkwardly in his hands.

"Hey," I gave him an obligatory nod of greeting. I pulled out a few random books. I couldn't even remember what classes I had. Not that I really cared. I just wanted to get by and graduate. I wasn't an Einstein like Casey.

"So… did you tell Casey that I was going to come by today?" he asked, avoiding my eyes for some reason.

I raised an eyebrow. He was acting a bit odd. "Uh… yeah. She's fine with it," I lied. I had forgotten to tell Casey that minor detail.

"Cool," he said. There was an awkward pause. "So…uh…what class do you have now?"

"Beats me," I shrugged, digging through my locker now for my schedule. I always got the days mixed up. I liked it better when I had the same stupid classes every day at the same time. That made things a hell of a lot easier.

"Oh," Sam probably wasn't that surprised. He knew I wasn't the most organized person. He was pretty organized, though, for a guy and everything. It was probably one of the things Casey liked about him when they were going out…

Sam snapped me out of my thoughts with, "So, I guess I'll meet you after school, then?"

I stared at him blankly. "For what?"

"So I can come visit," Sam said slowly. "I still can, right? I mean, see the baby?"

The baby. I felt my thoughts lighten when I pictured my little guy. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."

"Okay, cool," Sam gave a smile. "Later, then."

"Later," I nodded him off and finally pulled my schedule out from the bottom of my messy locker. It was creased all over and its edges were torn. But at least it was legible. I sighed heavily as I slammed my locker shut and prepared myself for another boringly repetitive day of school.

I slept through most of my classes, and BSed my way through the rest of them. And somehow, I made it through the seemingly longest Monday of my life. After school, I shoved some random books into my backpack. Of course, Sam met me in the hall.

It's not that I wasn't glad that we were cool again, but I just wanted to get home and be left alone. Well, left alone with Jake and Casey. But now Sam was going to tag along and stay for God knows how long. Nora would probably invite him to stay for dinner. He probably was never going to leave.

We talked only about hockey as we walked to my house.

"Smerek!" Marti yelled as soon as we opened the front door. She ran over to me and did some kind of little dance.

"Hey, Smarti," I gave her a hug. "What are you doing home?" She usually got out of school later than everyone else.

"I had half-a-day!" she grinned a toothy grin. "Casey made brownies!"

I smirked. "Sounds good. Where is she?"

"In the kitchen with Lizzie, Edwin, and Jakey!" she exclaimed in a sing-song voice and ran into the kitchen ahead of us.

I glanced over at Sam. He suddenly looked apprehensive. I didn't say anything to him as I walked into the kitchen. He followed.

Sure enough, Casey was in the kitchen, holding Jake close to her as she talked with Edwin and Lizzie. The two younger kids were happily eating brownies with milk. The kitchen smelled of chocolate and baby formula.

"Hey," Casey looked up at me and smiled. Then, she stopped, her eyes widening and smile fading slowly. "Sam?" she asked tentively.

"Hi," Sam breathed.

I ignored their little salutations, and came in closer to Casey. She broke her gaze with Sam and focused on me, which I liked much better.

"How's my little buddy?" I asked, peering down at Jake. He was just laying there in Casey's arms, looking around. I couldn't help but smile when I saw him look up at me.

"He's been a good boy all day," Casey smiled proudly down at him. "You want to see daddy, Jacob?" she cooed to him, and I felt my heart clench. I don't know whether it was her words, or the sweet way she said them. Either way, it made me all warm inside.

She handed Jake over to me and I cuddled him gently. "Hey, buddy," I kissed his tiny nose. I then looked over at Sam. He had this strange, unreadable expression on his face. He stared at the bundle in my arms.

"You want to see him?" I asked, wondering why Sam was not moving.

He nodded, and slowly walked over. He looked down at Jake, and Jake stared right back up at him.

"Wow," was all Sam said. Then, he looked over at Casey. "He has your eyes, Casey."

Casey smiled brightly, standing up. She walked over to Sam. "It's good to see you," she said, pulling him into a hug.

Even though I knew it was just Casey being her nice Casey self, I still felt a surge of jealousy run through me. Especially when I saw the way Sam wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, his eyes closing briefly during the embrace. I narrowed my eyes at them.

"You look great," Sam said to her when they let go of each other. His eyes seemed to scan her body, blatantly checking her out. My nostrils flared.

Casey giggled. "Aww, thanks, you're sweet." She smiled. "I'm lucky I didn't gain _too _much weight with Jacob." She glanced over at the table, where Lizzie and Edwin were quietly talking amongst themselves while they ate and watched the scene in front of them. "Would you like a brownie? They're fresh out of the oven."

She was being awfully nice to him. Maybe a little TOO nice.

"Sure, I'd love one," Sam said in his annoyingly polite way. He sat down at the table, and Casey got him a plate, a brownie, and a glass of milk.

"Derek, how about you?" she looked over at me then. I was silently fuming. And I was surprised that she had actually remembered I was still standing there!

"No thanks," I said through gritted teeth. But I did sit down. Casey sat down next to Sam, across the table from me.

As she got Sam a napkin, I watched him stare at her. I didn't like it one bit.

"So," I decided to break the silence. "_Our son_ was good today?" I asked Casey, stressing the words "our son."

Casey looked up at me. "Yeah, he was an angel," she smiled. "He napped while I was tutored and my Mom came home during her lunch break to help me give him a bath. He didn't cry once," she looked quite pleased.

I smiled down at Jake. "Good boy, Jake." He reached up to touch my face.

"Aww," Casey breathed. "That was precious!"

I grinned down pressing my lips against his tiny hand. "He loves his _daddy_," I glanced up at Sam then. He was looking down, silently eating his brownie. I could tell he was jealous. And that satisfied me.

"He's due for another feeding, Derek, you want to feed him?" Casey stood up again.

"Sure," I made sure to give her a loving smile to make Sam sick.

I had never even saw what he had planned coming.

Casey brought me over a bottle and I fed him while I watched Sam out of the corner of my eye. He was eyeing Casey again.

"Have you been in this house all day?" he asked her.

Casey gave a little chuckle. "Yeah, but, you know, it's not that bad because at least I had my tutor here earlier, and the kids get home around—"

And Sam interrupted her with this: "Why don't you let me take you out for dinner tonight? Get away from the house for a little while."

Casey looked pleasantly surprised. Sam looked hopeful and kind of stalkerish to me. I, on the other hand, looked pissed.

"What about Jake?" I asked Casey immediately. I knew she wouldn't want to leave him.

"Well, you could watch him for an hour," Casey said slowly. "I mean, it would kind of be nice to get out." She smiled at Sam.

And before I could say anything else, she said, "Okay, Sam, I'd like that."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **_Thanks for all the reviews, it is nice to know that there are people out there enjoying this fic :-) I think this chapter is my longest chapter yet! Hope you all like it!_

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I saw red as the two of them left together. I stormed up the stairs, gently tucking Jake into his crib (as he had fallen asleep in my arms after his bottle) and I angrily threw myself onto Casey's perfectly-made bed. 

Just what the hell did Sam think he was doing? I mean, the two of them had broken up long ago. And Casey wouldn't just go back to him after having a baby with me.

…_Would she?_

Now, worry seemed to mix into my anger. They seeped through my brain together, merging, giving me horrible thoughts. Thoughts of Sam and Casey getting back together. Thoughts of me alone. Thoughts of my little Jake calling Sam "Daddy."

Oh no. I wasn't going to have that.

Letting my anger get the best of me, I balled my fists up and rocked slowly, a bomb ready to go off. And I steamed in silence, waiting for Casey to come back home.

When I heard footsteps much later on (she was out for more like two hours, not one!), I knew it was her and stood up. She walked into the room, all smiles and beams of sunshine. She saw me standing there, clearly a mess, and her smile instantly faded.

"…Derek?" she asked slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" I repeated. "What's wrong?" And I laughed. A mocking laugh at her. As if she didn't know. "Guess."

Her eyebrows furrowed. She looked confused. She was either a great actress, or much dumber than I thought. "I don't know," she said slowly.

"How was dinner?" I folded my arms across my chest accusingly.

She then opened her mouth and then closed it again. Finally she said, "You're mad that I went out with Sam?"

"Bingo," I growled.

She looked astonished. "Derek, it was just dinner. We went as _friends_. Friends do that!"

"You expect me to believe that you two are just friends?" What did she think I was, an idiot?

"Yes, because we _are_!" her voice became louder and eyes narrowed as she got angry.

"You're getting back together, aren't you?" I accused her.

Her hands went on her hips. "No! And why would you care, anyway? _We're_ not officially together or anything!"

I froze at that. And I knew it. I meant nothing to her. I was just her baby's daddy. Her stepbrother. That's it.

"No, I guess we're not," I said icily, and brushed past her, going into my own room and slamming the door shut.

I sat down on my computer chair and just stared at nothing. My teeth were grinding, but my heart felt kind of funny. It was like… I couldn't really describe the feeling.

I moved my vacant eyes down to my hands and stared at them. And I came to the realization of what I felt.

I had a broken heart.

I stayed in bed for the rest of the night, not sleeping but not thinking. Just feeling…empty. Kind of…hollow. Like I had nothing left in the world to live for.

Casey's words had more of an effect on me than I would have ever thought possible. I mean, the two of us never officially said that we were together, but I had just assumed that we were, since we both loved each other, had sex with each other, and had a baby together. But I guess I had been just stupid all along. Naïve. Foolish.

I guess I shouldn't assume things, huh?

In my head, she was my girlfriend. My one and only. I never even thought about another girl after being with Casey. She made all the other girls look so…_bland_. And now with Jake, I felt like we had the perfect little family. In my head, we were going to settle down in a few years, get jobs, and have a couple more kids.

Stupid Derek. Stupid, stupid Derek.

I heard Jake cry from Casey's room, and instantly sat up. I knew that Casey would get him, though. After a few more minutes of listening to Jake's cries, I pulled on a T-shirt and padded over to Casey's room. Her door was cracked open just slightly, and her lights were off, as expected. She was not in her bed, however.

I heard a noise, a muffled cry, and quickly turned on the lights. And there was Casey, crouched on the floor in the middle of the room, holding Jake tightly to her. And the two of them were crying. Jake, long baby wails, and Casey, short broken sobs. Forgetting everything, I kneeled down and held them both.

"D-Derek," Casey sobbed into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry."

"Shh," I comforted them both. I rubbed Casey's back soothingly, and pressed a kiss on top of Jake's hairless head. "Me too, Case…"

As soon as I calmed Casey down, Jake seemed to calm down too. He fell asleep in our arms. I slowly moved away from Casey, taking Jake with me, and placed him tenderly in his crib. Then I looked back over at Casey. She was looking up at me now, her eyes red and swollen.

I could feel her pain bouncing off my own. I think she could feel mine, too. And I think we could also feel each other's forgiveness.

I leaned down and put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at me. Her puffy eyes blinked up at my own, and I wiped her tears from her wet cheeks. Gently, I lowered my lips down on to hers and kissed her with all of the passion I felt for her. She clung to me, and I lifted her up, taking her over to her bed with me. And there, with our son sleeping peacefully just feet away, we made love to each other.

When we were spent, I held Casey tightly to me. Her body felt so right against my own.

"Does this mean we're _officially_ together?" I mumbled into her soft shoulder.

And Casey let out a sweet laugh. She reached up and ran her fingers through my sweat-matted hair. "Yes…we always were, Derek."

I looked up into her eyes. They sparkled and danced, making me smile.

"I love you, Derek," she said. Even though her eyes had already told me.

"I knew you were going to make this sappy," I gave her a lopsided grin and she laughed again, hitting my shoulder lightly.

After a moment, I sighed. I hated giving apologies, but she deserved one. "Case… I'm sorry about the whole Sam thing. I was just…" I drifted off.

She hid a smile. "You were just what?"

I still didn't finish it.

"Go ahead, you can say it," she urged, her smile breaking through her eyes.

I sighed. She always made things difficult for me. "Jealous, okay? I was jealous."

She smiled, patting my head. "See? I knew you could say it."

I groaned. "Yeah, yeah." But my eyes shone down at her lovingly. I pulled her naked body closer to my own and gave her lips one last kiss before closing my eyes, feeling nothing but warmth and love radiating from Casey. My Casey.

The two of us woke up to the sound of Jake crying for a bottle. Casey groaned, sitting up, but I stopped her with my hand as I rubbed my eye with the other.

"I'll go feed him," I told her, lazily pressing a kiss to her jaw before standing up and pulling on my boxers.

"Thank you," she mumbled, falling back to sleep before her head even hit the pillow.

I smirked and walked over to the crib. I picked up Jake. "Hey, buddy, you hungry?" I asked him softly, pulling him against my bare chest. I turned the light off that Casey and I had forgotten to turn off before…becomingoccupied. And I took Jake downstairs with me.

I turned the light on in the kitchen, and looked at the digital clock on the stove. It gleamed 5:04 in bright green. Sighing, I made Jake a bottle of formula while balancing him in my arms. It was tricky, but I managed to do it.

"There ya go," I told Jake as I lifted the newly-made bottle to his tiny mouth. His lips instantly latched on and he began sucking on it contently. I smiled as he watched me while he drank. "You're gonna be a heartbreaker one day," I told him softly. It was one of the first things I remember my mother saying to me when I was just a baby.

My mother. My family never really talked about her. Marti was the only one who ever saw her, and that was only about twice a year. Edwin and I decided long ago that we didn't want to have anything to do with her. She had cheated on our dad when we were little. She wanted us to keep it a secret from him. The guy, Hank, would come over almost every day once Dad left for work. Marti was just a tiny baby, so she didn't remember, but Edwin and I did. We could hear them having sex in the other room. We would have to make our own meals and clean up the house. We had to take care of Marti. And worst of all, we had to lie to our dad, the one person that we actually trusted.

I was the one that broke. My mother slapped me when she found out that I had told. I was only ten years-old. I can still feel the sting of her slap on my cheek. She called me and Edwin a bunch of nasty names and told us we were "ungrateful."

I haven't seen her since. I don't think I've talked about her since, either.

However, I did still think about her from time to time. And now I wondered what she would say if she knew I had a son of my own.

A loud suckling sound drew me out of my thoughts, and I glanced back down at Jake to see he had finished the bottle.

"All done, little guy?" I asked him, setting the bottle down in the sink. In response, his eyes fluttered closed. I smiled down at his sleepy form. "Let's put you back upstairs with mommy, okay?" I kissed his warm forehead and carried him back to Casey's room. I carefully set him down in his crib and tucked him in again. Then I turned around. Casey was out cold, her lips slightly parted and hands curled up under her neck in an innocent pose. I slid under the covers, next to her warm body, and wrapped an arm around her protectively. She instantly snuggled into my body.

The next thing I remember was feeling someone shaking me. "Derek! Derek, wake up, you're going to be late for school!"

I opened one eye and saw Casey, looking a bit worried.

I just groaned, closing my eyes again.

"Derek, come on!" Casey said a bit more insistently, and shook me again. "It's past 7:30!"

That was late, but I didn't really care. I felt her take my hands and try to pull me up. She couldn't do it, of course. But she came pretty close.

"Damn, you're strong," I complimented her, opening my eyes.

She gave a satisfied smile. "And don't you ever forget it. Now, go! School starts in half an hour!"

I stood up tiredly and dragged myself into my bedroom. I had just enough time to shower, change, and get to school if I ran. I grabbed some clothes and walked over to the bathroom. The door was closed. I knocked on it. "Hello?" I asked impatiently.

"Hi Smerek!" came Marti's little voice.

"Smarti, what are you doing in there?" I asked her with a sigh.

"Nora's making me take a bath! I got breakfast in my hair!" she called back.

I groaned. Of course. I waited, tapping my foot, and after a few minutes, decided it was useless and gave up. I pulled on my clothes without my shower, and tried to control my messy hair with some mousse and a brush. It just made it look messier, though.

There was nothing else I could do, so I simply shoved my books into my backpack, and made my way downstairs. First, of course, I stopped by Casey's room. She only had a big T-shirt on, and I gulped as I realized it was mine. She was holding Jake, talking to him softly as she rocked him slightly in her arms. The sight made me completely forget about school.

She smiled at me and I could only stare back, mesmerized. "You're going to be late," she said gently to me.

"I don't care," I responded, walking over and quickly possessing her lips with my own. I kissed her deeply and passionately, but in the end she just swatted me off.

"Get to school," she giggled, and Jake made a gurgle of agreement.

I sighed. "Alright, alright," I was in a really good mood despite the fact that I was dreading another day of school. I kissed Casey one more time and then pressed a kiss on little Jake's tiny lips too.

"See ya, buddy," I told him, and he looked up at me, seeming to understand.

"Have a good day," Casey said as I went out the door.

I ran past Nora, my Dad, Edwin, and Lizzie, shouting a "bye" to them, but not stopping. I heard Nora yell something to me about breakfast, but I didn't have time to turn around.

* * *

I was five minutes late for homeroom, but I used my Derek charm to talk my way out of a detention. 

"Good timing," Sam commented as I slid into my seat. I had never even noticed he was in my homeroom. He was a few seats away from me, still within talking distance.

I narrowed my eyes briefly, and then stopped myself. I didn't have to be angry with him—Casey wanted _me_, not him. She made that clear last night. I smiled to myself, remembering what transpired last night.

The rest of the day went by surprisingly quickly, and my good mood continued. That is, until last period. The teacher was absent, so I had a free period. I was contemplating whether to do the assignment Mr. Walters had assigned or just go home, when Sam sat down across from me.

"You staying?" he asked curiously.

"Nah," I decided, "I think I'm gonna head home." I stood up and shoved a bunch of papers into my unorganized backpack.

"Alright. Tell Casey I'll pick her up at 4:00," he said offhandedly.

I completely stopped everything I was doing. "…what?" What was he talking about?

He leaned back in his chair. "Casey didn't tell you? She wanted me to take her to the library. I was going there tonight already, so I offered her a ride." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

I didn't even know what to say. Casey had never told me any of that. My good mood now out the window, I grabbed my backpack, gave Sam a nasty look, and stormed off.

The cool air of the approaching winter didn't calm me down as I walked home. My jaw was tense and my muscles were tight. Why did Casey not mention that she was going out with Sam again tonight? What kind of a game was she playing?

I walked in, muttering these questions to myself, and headed right upstairs to Casey's room. She was there, curled up on her bed, reading a book. She smiled up at me, but her pearly whites didn't dissolve my bad mood.

"When were you going to tell me you had a date with Sam tonight?" I demanded.

Casey's smile instantly evaporated. "A date?"

"Yes, _a date_," I snapped. "He told me all about it today in school."

She shook her head quickly. "It's not a date, Derek," she calmly put her bookmark in her book and set it down next to her on the bed. "He was just going to take me to the library because I have some research to do, that's it."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

She sighed. "I didn't think it was important. And it's definitely _not _a date. Besides, I made these plans _before _I knew how upset you were about me and Sam."

"So you'll break the plans, right?"

She narrowed her eyes at me at that. "Derek, I said _it's_ _not a date_. I just need to go to the library. That's all."

"Why didn't you ask me to come, then?" I shot back.

"Because you hate the library!" she threw her hands up in the air with exasperation.

"You know I'd go if you wanted me to take you," I answered.

"I figured I wouldn't have to because Sam was already going there."

I scowled.

"Derek, I told you, I don't WANT Sam! And if you're too insecure to trust me, then we shouldn't **be** in a relationship!" she snapped, and stormed out of the room.

I heard Jake make distressed baby sounds, obviously affected by me and Casey's fight. I sighed heavily, reaching down and lifting him up to cuddle against me.

"I'm sorry, buddy," I said quietly to him, my eyes far away as I gave him a kiss and nuzzled his bald head. "She's right," I admitted to him, staring out the door where she had just stormed off moments ago.

I glanced down at Jake then, and he drooled, his blue eyes looking up at me almost accusingly. "I know, I know," I breathed to him. I took him with me as I went downstairs. Casey was in the living room, talking to Lizzie, who had evidently just come home.

"Case," I interrupted them, jerking my head, indicating that I needed to talk to her.

She sighed, saying something to Lizzie. Lizzie looked up at me and then back at her sister, nodded, and walked off into the kitchen.

I moved over to the now-empty spot on the couch and sat down next to Casey. Casey stared down at her feet.

"I'm sorry," I said to her for the second time in less than 24 hours. "I don't mean to go all… caveman on you. I just, you know, I'm kind of possessive with the people I love."

She looked up at me. "You don't trust me, Derek," she said quietly.

"No, I do," I said honestly. "It's that Sam I don't trust. I just…don't want him to take you away from me."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't trust your best friend?"

I shrugged. "I don't trust anyone that easily."

"But you trust me?" she searched my eyes.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. I do."

She smiled, reaching over and hugging me, Jake in-between us. "Thanks, Derek. That's all I wanted to hear."

I just nodded, looking down again.

"And Sam's _not _going to take me away from you. I promise," she smiled at me, brushing a strand of my messy hair out of my eyes.

I knew she was too innocent and naïve to see that Sam still wanted her. But I guess she was right… I had to trust her. It was going to be hard for me, but I had to show her that I trusted her.

God, this was tough. No wonder why I had never been in a real relationship before. It was a lot of work.

She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Now, I've got to go get ready. Are you okay with Jake? I won't be gone long. And my mom will be home any minute."

"We're fine," I told her, looking down at the still-drooling baby in my arms.

She smiled and rushed upstairs. I lay back, putting on the TV, and adjusting Jake so he could watch it with me.

* * *

At 4:00 on the dot, the door was knocked on. I pulled Jake closer against me and we went to open the door. Sam was standing there, holding a small bouquet of flowers.

"Hey," he said awkwardly as I let him in.

"Hey," I just nodded in return.

Casey must have heard Sam come in, because she came down the stairs, dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink long-sleeved top. She looked nice, but not really dressed up, which I was thankful for.

"Hi, Sam," she said, smiling a greeting.

"These are for you," Sam held out some flowers. "You know, since I didn't get a baby gift or anything…" he seemed very nervous.

"Aw, thank you," she smiled, taking the flowers happily. "I'll go put them in water."

"I can do it," I interrupted her, taking them in my free hand.

She smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Thanks, Derek."

"Are you ready to go, Casey?" Sam asked.

She nodded, still looking at me. She then looked down at Jake. "Be good, honey," she said to him, kissing him gently. She then smiled up at me. "I'll be back soon," she promised me.

I leaned over and kissed her lips. "Love you," I murmured softly against them. But, of course, I made sure it was loud enough for Sam to hear. Heh.

She looked surprised again, but smiled. "Love you, too."

Sam shifted his feet uncomfortably. I simply smirked. They left and I looked down at Jake. He seemed amused, as well.

"Alright, kid, what should we do now?" I asked him, tossing the stupid flowers carelessly on the couch.

Just then, Nora came in, along with Marti. "Hi, Derek," she said.

"Smerek!" Marti hugged me around my waist. I leaned down to let her give Jake a sloppy wet kiss on his cheek.

"Where's Casey?" Nora asked as she hung up her coat.

"At the library," I said casually.

"Oh," was Nora's reply. "Well, why don't you take Jake out for a walk? It's beautiful out, and the snow will be coming in a few weeks so we should enjoy this weather while it lasts."

I contemplated this. It was actually a pretty good idea. Jake could probably use some fresh air.

"Okay," I responded.

"Just make sure you bundle him up good," Nora warned.

"Can I come, too?" Marti looked up at me, her lower lip sticking out.

"Sure," I said. "But you gotta stay with me, Smarti." She had a tendency of running off and causing us to chase her around frantically.

"I will!" she yipped and put her coat back on again.

Nora got out the new stroller she and my Dad had bought for Jake, and I went upstairs and bundled Jake up. He looked so cute wrapped in layers and layers of padded clothing. He just stared up at me with his big blue eyes, wondering just what the hell was going on.

"We're going outside, buddy," I told him, kissing his tiny nose, one of the only body parts of him still exposed.

I put him down for a minute to get my own jacket on, and then brought him downstairs with me. Marti and the stroller were already outside waiting.

"Have fun!" Nora called. "And don't forget to be home by dinner!"

"Okay!" I shouted back, rolling my eyes.

"Come on, Jakey, we're gonna take a walk!" Marti hopped around on one foot.

I laid Jake down in the carriage, and put the little top up so the wind wouldn't make him cold. I placed another blanket on top of him.

"Ready?" I asked Marti.

"Ready!" she grinned and we took off.

As we walked down the street (on the sidewalk, of course), I looked over at Marti, who was humming to herself, picking leaves from shrubs as she walked.

"Marti, when was the last time you saw Mom?" I asked her.

She looked up at me, her forehead wrinkled as she thought. "I don't remember," she said finally. She crouched down and picked up a long twig to play with.

I sighed. "Does she talk about me and Edwin ever?"

She nodded quickly at this. "She says she misses you," she said solemnly.

I looked away from her as we turned the corner. There was an ex-girlfriend of mine just a few meters away, playing with two younger kids. They were sitting on the sidewalk, coloring with chalk.

"Ooh, I want to play!" Marti exclaimed and ran right over to them before I could stop her.

"Hi," I could hear my ex saying. Well, she wasn't technically my ex. We were never official. We had just gone out and made out a few times, that's it. I couldn't even remember her name… Kathy? Katie?

"Derek," came her surprised voice. She looked up at me with smoky grey eyes.

I gave her a half-smile. "Uh…"

"_Kelly_," she filled in for me. Oops. Hey, I hadn't been TOO far off…

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pushing her long blonde hair off of her shoulder and standing up. She looked at Marti and the baby stroller. "Babysitting?"

"Sort of," I shrugged.

"Me too," she smiled down at the two kids she apparently was watching. They were now coloring with Marti.

Kelly walked over and leaned over the carriage, peering in at Jake. "Oh, he's _precious_!" she exclaimed. "Is he your brother? A neighbor?"

"My son," I said quietly.

Kelly's mouth formed a little 'O' as she looked up at me. "… Ah. I, uh, see."

"His name's Jakey and he's my nef-oo," Marti said proudly, skipping over to us.

"_Nephew_," I corrected her and looked down at Jake. He yawned sleepily.

"Oh," was all Kelly could say. She looked over at her babysitting charges. "Kids, we should go start on dinner now," she said. She gave me a saccharine smile. "It was nice to see you, Derek." With that, she tossed her blonde hair and walked into the house with the kids.

"I didn't like her," Marti said, turning her nose up and walking on.

I chuckled to myself and followed her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **_Aww I just love all of the reviews, guys, they are so sweet and I am super glad that everyone is enjoying this story! And as I was sitting here just now, getting ready to post this next chapter, I had a somewhat amusing thought... the main couple on Life With Derek is supposed to be Sam and Casey, but I have never read one LWD fic that centres around them lol! Clearly Dasey is SO much better right? (as you can see I'm definitely not a Sam fan...sorry to those who are!). Okay, just a random thought! Now on with the story!_

* * *

When I got back, I was surprised to see Casey sitting down on the front steps of the house. She looked sullen, her knees drawn up to her chin and her top teeth ruthlessly gnawing at her lower lip. She didn't even seem to notice us approaching.

"Hi Casey!" Marti exclaimed, skipping over to her ahead of me.

Casey looked up quickly, releasing her lower lip. She smiled briefly at Marti, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Then her eyes met mine and I knew something was troubling her.

"Smarti, go in and see if Nora needs help cooking dinner," I said to her.

"Okay!" Marti sang and ran inside.

I rolled the stroller over to the steps and then sat down next to her, my concern evident. "What's wrong, Case?"

Casey looked down at the ground, her hand absentmindedly picking up a twig and twirling it around her fingers. "You were right," I heard her say softly.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Right about what?"

"Sam," she responded.

Sam. Of course. My whole body tensed. "What about Sam?"

"He was just trying to get back with me all along," she replied, looking up into my eyes. She looked kind of disappointed.

"What did he do, Case? Did he make a move on you? Because I have no problem going over to his house and beating the sh—"

"No!" she interrupted me, covering my hand with hers to calm me down. Because, believe me, I was _not_ calm. "He just… told me that he missed me. That he wanted me back."

I looked at her sad expression. "And you miss him too?" I asked quietly.

"No, that's not it," she said, shaking her head, letting her know I was misinterpreting her actions. "I just wanted us to be friends. I'm upset because we clearly can't do that." She sighed heavily.

"What did you say?" I asked, not really _wanting_ to know but _needing_ to know.

She smiled. "That I was happy with you."

I got that warm feeling all over when she said that, her eyes looking at me with love. It was so strange how she could do that to me.

"And that I'm hotter than him?" I decided to break the seriousness with a joke.

She laughed appreciatively. "That too."

"And sexier?" I wiggled my eyebrows.

"Of course," she continued giggling.

I shook my head in disdain. "Why, Casey MacDonald. I knew you only wanted me for my body."

She burst out laughing at that, and I smiled at her. She looked so pretty when she laughed like that.

Suddenly she stood up. "And how's my little boy?" she asked, moving over to the carriage. I stood up, too, as she lifted Jake out of stroller. He stared up at her.

"Did you have fun with daddy?" she asked him and we both smiled as he yawned in response.

"I'll go feed him and put him to bed," she told me.

I nodded, watching her turn to go.

I went inside a few moments after her and put the stroller away.

"_Smer-ek_!" Marti called from in the kitchen.

I sighed, walking into the kitchen. "What, Smarti?" I asked her. She was holding the phone in her left hand.

"Mommy wants to talk to you."

I froze at those words. Completely and totally froze. My mind couldn't think, my body couldn't move, and my mouth couldn't talk. I just stared at the phone in Marti's hand. I completely panicked.

Casey, who was in the kitchen feeding Jake, saw this and immediately rushed over to me.

"Derek?" she asked worriedly, taking hold of my shoulder. I couldn't even feel it.

Casey quickly looked over at Marti. "Marti, tell her Derek can't talk right now," she instructed. She then took my hand. "Come on, Derek." She steered my stiffened body out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom. She gently put Jake in his crib, and pulled me over to her bed. I had to force my knees to bend in order to sit down with her.

"Derek?" she asked worriedly. "Derek, talk to me," she stroked my cheeks and pushed back my hair.

"I haven't talked to her in five years," I said slowly. Numbly.

Casey forced me to meet her eyes. They were deep blue pools of worry and confusion. "Why?"

"She… doesn't really like me and Edwin," I explained carefully. I didn't want to burden sweet little Casey with the details. "She was angry with us. And we kind of were angry at her. So we just…never spoke once she and Dad got divorced."

I know she could tell there was much more to the story. But she didn't push. She just hugged me. And I hugged her back, thankful that she was so…_Casey_. I held on to her like she was a lifesaver. My lifesaver. And she whispered words of comfort and understanding in my ear like I was a little boy.

She tugged me down into a more horizontal position and wrapped her arms around me, tenderly pressing gentle kisses all over my face. I closed my eyes and just simply felt.

"Casey, Derek, dinner!" Nora suddenly called, and Casey gave a little groan. I opened my eyes slowly, and she stood up, waiting for me to join her.

"Come on," she said.

I nodded, not very hungry, but not really wanting to be alone with my thoughts just yet. She took my hand, and it was so soft against my own rough hand. We walked downstairs, and sat down at the dinner table. Everyone else was already there, filling their plates.

I sat down next to Casey and looked over at Edwin. Instantly I knew that he had heard the news, too. He looked distraught, and Lizzie was whispering gently to him, sitting extra close to him. I felt bad for the poor kid. Mainly because we were going through the same thing, and I knew exactly how he was feeling.

Dad must not have known, because he didn't say anything to us. He and Nora didn't even notice that Edwin and I were both visibly upset, and Casey and Lizzie kept whispering soothing words to us. Sometimes I was glad that Dad and Nora were so oblivious.

And sometimes I hated it.

The four of us barely ate, and after dinner I was going to see how Edwin was, maybe talk to him, but I saw Lizzie lead him into her bedroom. Casey took my hand and brought me into hers.

And I ended up telling her the entire story.

Tears slid down her cheeks as I revealed my past. She hugged me at times, and sometimes just held my hand gently. Once in awhile she would nod in understanding or flinch, feeling my pain. When I was done, she held me close to her. I listened to the beat of her heart in her chest, lulled by it.

"I'm so sorry, Derek," she whispered.

"I don't know what to do," I answered.

She pulled away from me, but still kept as close as possible. "You mean whether you should talk to her or not?"

I nodded.

She laced her fingers through my own. "That has to be your decision."

"I know," I sighed heavily, leaning against her bed. "I just wish I didn't have to make it."

"Maybe she's different now," Casey said slowly, ever the optimist. "People change."

"Maybe," I said. It was so ironic, because I had just started thinking about her again these past couple of days. And now she wants to speak to me and Edwin after five years. I let out a huge breath, tossing my head back. "I don't want to think about it right now."

"Okay," Casey said. "You want to talk about something else then?"

"Anything to take my mind off of it," I nodded.

Suddenly she gave this sexy little smirk. "I can take your mind off of it."

My lips slowly turned upward into a smile. She just kept on surprising me.

She gradually crawled into my lap, and, pulling my head down, her lips met my own in a slow but explosive kiss. I smiled against her lips as she tugged my shirt up and over my head, her soft hands running over my bare torso. She pulled away, causing me to groan in frustration, and there was a sparkle in her eyes as she moved over to her bed.

"Lock the door and come over here," she beckoned me.

I grinned, doing as she told me, and turned off the lights before getting into bed with her, letting her help me forget everything.

* * *

"Did that make you stop thinking about it?" she asked when we were done, kissing a pathway down my naked chest. 

"Definitely," I moaned out.

"Good," she smiled, capturing my lips again. I kissed her back eagerly, burying one hand in her soft hair and pressing the other against her hip.

There was a sudden knock on the door and I groaned in irritation. Casey smiled, pressing a finger to my lips so I wouldn't give away that I was in here, in case it was my Dad or Nora.

"Yeah?" she asked and I kissed her finger.

"Casey? Is Derek in there?" It was Edwin. He probably wanted to talk about Mom.

I sighed. So much for forgetting about it. "I'm here, Edwin. Wait a second." I stood up, pulling on my clothes and raking my fingers through my hair. I looked over to see that Casey had gotten dressed too, and was now looking in on Jake.

I opened the door to see Edwin standing there, seeming kind of glum. "You want to talk?" I asked him.

Edwin nodded, and I turned back to look at Casey. She gave me an encouraging smile. It helped. I took Edwin over to my room, which I felt like I hadn't been in in so long.

"Mom?" I asked him, the word even feeling a bit foreign and awkward on my lips.

Edwin nodded again, looking down at his socks.

"Well, what do you want to do?" I asked him, sitting back at my desk.

Edwin shrugged. "I don't know."

"Me neither, kid," I admitted, letting out a breath. "It's just… strange how she wants to all of the sudden talk to us."

"I bet Marti told her about Jacob," Edwin said.

I hadn't even though of that. It made sense, though. So, once again, it wasn't about us per say. It was about her getting to see her grandson.

Tapping my fingers on my desk, I looked at Edwin. He looked torn. I knew that he didn't really like our mother, like me, but I also know that he felt unwanted by her. Like something was missing, and she was it.

I clicked my tongue, knowing what I had to do. "I'm gonna talk to her," I announced suddenly.

Edwin looked up at me at that, startled. Several different emotions crossed his face. "You are?"

I nodded. "Yeah." And I went downstairs. Edwin followed right behind me. I grabbed my Dad's phonebook and looked up Alice Venturi. Yeah, she had kept her married name. Before I had time to back down, I grabbed the phone and punched in the numbers. I apprehensively shuffled my feet as the phone rang.

"Hello?" came a familiar voice, and hundreds of memories seemed to flood my mind at the sound.

"…Mom?" I asked, my own voice slightly wavering.

There was a long few seconds of silence. "Derek?" she finally asked. It wasn't really a question, though. I could tell she was sure it was me.

"Yeah," I responded.

"Oh, Derek!" I was surprised to hear her cry of happiness in my ear. "How have you been, honey? And Edwin?"

"We're fine," I said, looking over at Edwin. He was watching my every expression as I spoke on the phone.

"I heard that my baby had a baby of his own," she said suddenly. But it didn't take me by surprise. I had figured that she was going to say something about Jake.

"Yeah," I fidgeted. "His name's Jacob Michael."

"That's a lovely name," she said, and I _was_ surprised at that. At how accepting she seemed to be of it. "Your middle name. My father's name."

I hadn't known that. I had never met my grandfather on my mother's side of the family. She had run away from home when she was younger, and never saw her family again. She never spoke about them, either. It seemed to be a touchy subject to her.

I didn't say anything, so she continued.

"So, when do I get to see my grandson?" she asked. I knew that was coming.

But…did I want to see her?

"Uh, I don't know…" I had to think about it. I mean, it had been five years. She never even sent me a birthday card. It was like she had forgotten that she had ever had me and Edwin. "I'll have to check with Casey…" Casey was definitely going to come with me if I was going to see Alice Venturi.

"Casey. Is she your girlfriend? Jacob's mother?" she asked.

My eyes widened. Marti had forgotten to fill her in on the tiny detail that was Casey. _Great_.

"Yeah," I just said. I looked over at Edwin. He could tell that the conversation wasn't going that well. Even I could see how painfully awkward it sounded from my end.

"Alright, you let me know when it's a good time to see him," my Mom said.

"Okay," I said simply. I suddenly _really _wanted to hang up the phone and end this uncomfortable one-on-one.

"Is Edwin around?"

My eyes flew up to Edwin. "She wants to talk to you," I mouthed to him, seeing if he was up for it. I would totally understand if he wasn't.

Edwin seemed to let the idea roll around his head for a few seconds before slowly nodding and holding out his hand for the phone.

"He's right here. Hold on," I said and handed it to him without hearing her response or saying goodbye.

Edwin looked nervous as he spoke into the phone. "Hello?" All I could hear from his end was a "yeah" or an "okay" once in awhile. Lizzie walked into the kitchen and looked over at Edwin.

"Is he talking to your mom?" she whispered to me, and I nodded.

She bit her lip, much like Casey does, and slipped her hand into Edwin's free one. He seemed to be glad for the support.

"Tell him I'm upstairs if he wants to talk after," I told Lizzie, suddenly needing to be anywhere but where I was.

She nodded solemnly and I booked it up to my bedroom. I threw myself onto my unmade bed and stared up at the ceiling, thoughts swimming through my mind, giving me a migraine.

"Derek?" I heard a soft voice and snapped my head in its direction. It was Casey, holding Jake close to her and looking concerned for me.

"I'm fine, Case," I said tiredly. I wanted her to stop worrying about me.

I thought she was going to leave, sensing that I needed some space, but she came over to me and sat down on the edge of my bed.

But she didn't say anything.

I remained staring up at ceiling, squeezing my eyes shut every once in awhile to alleviate the pressure of my pounding head. I sat up suddenly, scrubbing my face in my hands.

My eyes then shifted to Jake, who was silently reaching one hand out towards me. I gave a small smile, and Casey let me take him from her.

"Hey, buddy," I whispered, kissing his little outreached hand. He stared up at me, his deep blue eyes full of love and the innocence of an infant. And I let out a choked cry.

"Oh, Derek," Casey said immediately, moving her body closer to mine and wrapping her arms around me.

"I don't get it," I said, tears splashing down my face. Tears of anger and grief. "Why didn't she want me?"

She knew who I meant. And I knew she didn't have an answer. So Casey just held me, rocking me, letting me cry. I hated crying and rarely ever did. In fact, I could only remember crying three times in my entire life. Crying was for wimps. I think my mother actually told me that before.

But that night, I cried.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **_Thank you so much for all the reviews, especially to those who are so religious about reviewing. It means a lot to me to know that people like my writing, so thanks! Here's the next chapter... some of it is a bit intense! Enjoy!_

* * *

My Dad came upstairs about half an hour later. My tears were dried, but I still felt…well, I felt a lot of things. Jake was asleep in my arms and Casey was curled up against me stroking my hair. We were silent. 

When Dad came in, we both looked over at him. He looked a little uncomfortable, like he had intruded on a special family moment or something.

"Uh, Derek, I heard you talked to your mother," he said.

I nodded. "Yeah. I did. She…she wants to see Jake." I glanced down at Casey, telling her too.

My Dad seemed to know this. "Well, its your decision, Derek. You can choose whether to go or not."

"I know," I said simply. But I didn't know what I was going to do yet.

"Alright," Dad's paternal minute was over. "I'll be downstairs in the living room if you want to talk."

I just shook my head, and he left.

"Do you know what you want to do?" Casey asked gently.

I sighed, looking away from her. "No." I paused. "I just don't get why she didn't want me, but would want to see her grandkid. It's not like she'll want to be a part of Jake's life," I scoffed.

"Maybe she will," Casey responded. "Remember, people change over time. Maybe she wants to be a grandmother to Jake. And maybe she still wants to be a mother to you."

A mother. Nora is the closest thing I had ever really had to one of those. She was way more motherly with me than Alice Venturi ever was.

Even though I was getting older, and it wasn't long before I'd be a legal adult, I still needed a mother. Maybe Casey was right…that my mom had some sort of revelation over the past few years and actually wanted to be my mom.

"Should I give her a chance?" I mumbled to Casey, ducking my head down.

I saw a small smile on Casey's face appear from the corner of my eye. It was a sad smile.

"It couldn't hurt you anymore than it does now," she answered gently.

And, as always (although I would never admit it!), Casey was right.

"Okay," I made my decision. But I glanced up at Casey, nervous again. "You'll come with me, right?"

"Of course," she leaned up and brushed her lips against my cheek. They were soft and tender and made me feel like everything was going to be okay.

I shifted Jake in my arms and nuzzled his chubby cheeks. He sighed in his sleep, and I smiled. Hopefully things really would turn out alright. But even if they didn't, I still had Casey and Jake.

* * *

I found out the next day that Edwin had decided that he wasn't quite ready to see Mom. My Dad and I didn't blame him. I called my mother back after school.

"Casey, Jake, and I have decided to come pay you a visit," I said as casually as I could. Maybe if I made it sound like it wasn't that big of a deal then it wouldn't be.

"Great," she replied. "How about on Saturday? I'll make us a nice brunch."

"Sure," I said. And the plans were set. I was going to see my mother.

Meanwhile, in school, Sam started avoiding me again. I knew it was because he figured that Casey had told me about him wanting to get back together with her. As if I hadn't known that from the beginning.

The rest of the week usually went by super slow, but, of course, when I actually _wanted _it to go by slowly, it flew by. Before I knew it, it was Saturday morning.

For the first Saturday in so long, I actually got up early willingly. Casey was already up and showered. I think she was almost as nervous as I was.

I let her pick out my clothes, wanting to look good. I mean, I hadn't seen my mother in five years. I sort of wanted to impress her. Let her know that I had done okay without her.

Casey picked out one of the only pairs of jeans that I had without any holes or fading, and a button-up top. She looked gorgeous in a black skirt and blue blouse. And she even dressed Jake in a cute little outfit that I had never seen before.

"How should I wear my hair?" she asked me as I fussed with my own.

"Umm…down," I told her. I loved it when her hair was down.

"Don't you three look nice," Nora exclaimed with a big smile as we walked into the living room.

"Thanks," I let Casey take all the credit.

"We should pick something up before we go," Casey said. "You know, to bring to your mother. Like…dessert. A pie or something?"

I shrugged. It was a good idea. I would never have thought about it. Once again, I was glad that I had Casey there to help out and think for me at this time.

I looked at the directions that Edwin had printed out for us as Casey settled Jake in his car-seat in the back. My mother didn't live too far…about half an hour away. Glancing over at Casey, I saw her nervously picking lint off of the sweater she had thrown on over her blouse.

"Ready?" I asked her.

She looked up, nodded, and silently got into the passenger seat. She was uncharacteristically quiet, and I knew it was because she didn't want to say the wrong thing to me or get me any more anxious than I already was. Plus, she was anxious too.

We stopped at the grocery store; Casey ran in and I hummed along to the radio while watching Jake strain to look out the window curiously.

"You see the birdies, buddy?" I asked him with a chuckle as he seemed mystified by a flock of Canadian geese flying pastour car.

Casey ran back into the car. As she got in she showed me what she had bought. "Do you think apple pie is okay?" she bit her lip. "Maybe I should have gotten the blueberry. Or the cherry."

I smiled and placed a hand on her leg. "Apple's fine, Case."

She simply nodded, and we kept on going. After a bit, we pulled up in front of a small Victorian house at the end of a side street.

"I guess this is it," I said to Casey, rechecking Edwin's directions.

"Okay," Casey said, and I took the pie from her as she went to go take Jake out of his car-seat. I stared at the house. It was a one family, small but not too small, especially for a woman who was living alone. It had a small backyard and a tiny garden in the front that made it actually look somewhat cozy. And cozy was not a word that I would ever associate with Alice Venturi.

Casey followed me up the three porch steps and I stood in front of the door, frozen. She gave my arm a pat of support and I looked down at her. She gave me an encouraging smile and I sucked in a breath before turning back to the door. Before I had any more time to think about it, I pressed the doorbell forcefully with my index finger.

And less than a minute later, the door opened and I was standing face-to-face with my mother.

She looked the same as she did before, with a few new wrinkles and her hair a few shades lighter than her natural medium-brown. Her eyes were non-expressive and her lips formed a tight smile as she seemed to study me from my stupid dress shoes that Casey had gotten me to wear to my brushed, slightly spiky hair.

"Derek!" she finally exclaimed, and took me into her arms for a hug. I was taller than her now, was the first thing I noticed. But she had never been very tall. The second thing I noticed was how cold her hug was. When I hugged Casey, or my Dad, or Nora, they had always given me warm hugs. Hell, even Marti, Lizzie, and Edwin gave me warm hugs. But my mother's was cold—reserved, almost forced.

She pulled back and cupped my cheek. "You look great, honey."

"Thanks," I said awkwardly. "Uh, you do too, Mom." The word still felt so foreign on my tongue. Like I was speaking Italian or German to her.

"And you must be Casey," my mother sized my girlfriend up and down kind of rudely. But polite Casey just smiled.

"Yes, I am Miss Venturi," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," my mother said offhandedly as she stared at the drooling baby in Casey's arms.

"And this…this is my grandson, isn't it?" she gave her first real smile then as she moved closer to Jake.

"Yeah," I smiled proudly at the handsome fellow.

"He's going to be a heartbreaker, that's for sure," Mom nodded at me. She took Jake from Casey's arms. "Oh, he's just _precious_."

Casey's eyes met my own, and I could see she was trying to cover the fact that she was a little miffed about my mother just grabbing the baby right from her. I placed an arm around Casey's waist, trying to silently apologize for my mom.

"Mom, we brought you a pie," I showed her our offering.

Mom looked down at the pie. She didn't look too pleased about it, however. "Store bought? Don't you remember how to make pies, honey? I taught you when you were little."

I don't know why, but my cheeks grew a bit hot at that. "Uh…not really."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you. I was going to teach Marguerite next time I see her anyway," she looked back down at Jake and cooed over him.

Mom was the only one who still called Marti "Marguerite." Marti hated that name.

"Well, come in, brunch is ready," she said and took off with Jake, expecting us to follow.

I glanced down at Casey again and shrugged. That was my mother in a nutshell.

There were sandwiches on the table, along with some fresh fruit and orange juice. My mother looked at the seats, her eyes telling us to sit down, and we did obediently. She sat down with Jake still in her arms.

"Jacob's probably getting hungry," Casey piped up. "I should feed him." She stood up.

"There's a guest room down the hall and to the left if you need privacy," Mom nodded, getting ready to hand over the googling infant.

"Oh," Casey blushed, "no, I don't, uh, breastfeed him. I'll just go heat up some formula…"

Mom gave a little tisking noise. "Breastmilk is much better for the baby."

Casey's cheeks just got redder. "Oh, uh, yeah, but, um…"

"We decided that formula was a better choice for us," I butted in, not liking the way Casey seemed to be squirming. She looked up at me and gave me a look of desperate thanks.

Mom didn't seem to approve. "I'll feed him," she took the bottle that Casey had dug out of Jake's diaper bag and took off with Jake and the formula.

Alone, I looked at Casey, wincing. "I'm sorry, Case."

"No, it's fine," Casey said through gritted teeth. I knew she was annoyed, but she tried not to let is show. I saw through her, of course.

"Eat your sandwiches!" Mom yelled from the kitchen most likely, and I quickly grabbed the sandwich, jumping.

"Relax," Casey hid her smile as she saw me jump.

"I'm trying to," I said. But I couldn't. Memories kept flooding back. The past. Me and Edwin as kids. Mom. Our old house not too far from this one. The way her sandwiches tasted exactly the same as they did years ago.

Mom came back several minutes later. I was finished eating, but Casey was still nibbling on her sandwich.

"I found Marguerite's old crib and set it up in my bedroom so Jacob could have a nap," she told us, obviously proud of herself for having thought of that.

"Uh, thanks," Casey said uneasily.

"So, Derek, honey, tell me about hockey. How are you doing?" she asked. I knew she didn't care about it, she never had, but at least she was faking interest.

"Great," I answered honestly. "I'm hoping to get a college scholarship. So far three universities are already interested in me, including the U of T and McGill."

"Wow," Mom said. "I never thought you'd go to university."

I was a little hurt by that, I'm not going to lie.

"And how about you, Casey? Is that short for Cassandra?"

"Oh, uh, no," Casey gave a tight smile. "It's just Casey. Uh, I don't know. I'd like to go to university eventually—"

My mother looked alarmed. "But what about Jacob?"

"Uh, well, maybe I could take night classes and commute, or I'm sure my Mom wouldn't mind watching him. Or there's always some type of daycare or a baby-sitter…"

Now my mother gasped. "Daycares are terrible for babies! All those germs. And children should be home with their mothers."

"Uh, well, uh," Casey didn't know what to say. She looked at me pleadingly. I knew if it was anyone else, she would launch into her feminism speech, but she wanted to be polite to my mother for me.

"So, this is a nice house, Mom," I saved Casey. Luckily, Mom embraced the rapid change of subject.

"Yes, it will do," she spoke, seeming indifferent about it. "I do like the view it has of the city skyline from the window in my bedroom."

"Nice." I didn't really care.

"So how is school, Derek? Are classes okay?"

"They're fine."

"Are you getting good grades?"

"Decent."

"How about math?"

I sighed. She remembered that I hated math. "I'm passing."

She nodded and looked over at Casey. "He was always terrible at math. I thought he had some kind of learning disability when he was younger!" she laughed and I felt myself sink.

Casey just gave a fake polite smile. She reached over and patted my thigh under the table, though, obviously sensing that my mother's biting words were affecting me.

"Edwin, well, he was bad at math and reading. At the age of four I already told him I knew what he was going to end up when he got older!" my mother continued, chuckling to herself as she sipped her orange juice.

Casey had to ask. "And what was that?"

"A carpenter, of course!" She continued chuckling. "You don't need any brains for that!"

Casey and I exchanged glances. This was getting a little too much for me. And then, the ultimate whammy…

"So tell me about this little tramp your father married," Mom looked at me.

"_Tramp_!" Casey yelled, clearly offended. And she had every right to be.

This was NOT good.

Before Casey had the chance to begin her screaming, I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mom, Nora's definitely not a tramp. She's a very nice woman and dad loves her very much. So let's lay off of her," I said in the calmest most rational tone I could muster. I could feel Casey boiling with rage under my palm.

"Is she ugly?" my mother pushed. "Tell me she's ugly."

Casey leapt out of her seat. "You bitch!" she yelled, and I grabbed her around the waist as she began charging at my mother.

My mom's eyes widened and mouth twisted in shock as I pulled a fighting and yelling Casey down onto my chair with me. I kept my arms locked around her waist and tried to calm her down.

"Mom, that was uncalled for," I was pissed too, and had to speak very slowly to keep the anger out of my voice. Meanwhile, Casey continued to squirm in my lap.

"Why is SHE so upset about it!" Mom was utterly confused and completely appalled by Casey's behavior.

"Nora is her mother," I said calmly.

My mother's jaw dropped—in horror. "You mean…but that means…and you are…" Her dark eyes bore right through me. "Casey is your _stepsister_!"

"Yes," I replied, and Casey stopped struggling. She murmured curses under her breath as I ran my fingers through her hair soothingly.

My mother stared at Casey coldly, and gave her a disgusted look. "You slut."

Now I stood up. "Hey!" I yelled, not taking this any longer. "If you're going to call anybody names, you call me them. Nora is great for Dad. And Casey? I don't even deserve her. She's…she's incredible," I felt my blood pressuring rising. I looked at Casey, who was standing there, shaking but fortunately not going after my mother.

"Casey, go get Jake," I told her gently.

Casey gave my mother a nasty glare, but held her tongue as she went to go get the baby.

"Mom, look around you," I sneered. "Just _look_. You live **alone**. Your kids don't even want to **see** you. All we have are bad memories of you. Nora, she's a _great_ mother to her kids. And Casey's _amazing_ with Jake. You can't say that about yourself, can you?"

She just stared at me, her eyes welling up. I don't know if she was sad or just angry. I didn't really care.

"So don't you insult my son's mother or his grandmother because they're a hell of a lot better at being a mother than you ever were and will ever be," I spat the last part out just as Casey came back with a sleeping Jake. I grabbed Jake's diaper bag.

"Bye, Mom. And this time it's for good," I told her.

Casey glared at her and I wrapped an arm around her and Jake protectively as we stormed out into the cool air. We didn't say anything as I took Jake and buckled him into his car-seat, and started driving off. In fact, we drove about half-way home before I swerved into the breakdown lane.

And had my own breakdown.

I saw red as I yelled and cursed the same woman who gave me life. I slammed my fists against the steering wheel until they throbbed with pain. And then I felt Casey's arms wrap around me.

"I'm so sorry, Casey," I told her gently, my voice actually now hoarse from my outburst. "I should never have taken you with me. I should never have gone there in the first place."

"You were doing something good, Derek," Casey whispered into my ear, and kissed my cheek softly. "You're a good guy. But you're also still young. You want a mother. Everyone wants a mother. You just…were hopeful that things had changed."

"But they haven't," I said sullenly. "Not one bit."

"Some people can't change," she breathed, and I hugged her more tightly against me. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you."

"I'm sorry she said those things to you," I told her, pulling back and looking into her watery eyes.

"I'm sorry she said those other things to _you_," she answered, reaching up and stroking my cheek. "What she said isn't true at all, Derek. You know that, right?"

"As long as you know that your mom isn't a tramp and you're not a slut," I told her.

She gave a small smile. "I know that."

"Good," I pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

We both heard a contented sigh from the back of the car and turned our heads to look at Jake. He was tilting his head, trying to see us, a curious look on his face.

I felt a smile creep across my face and glanced back over at Casey, whose eyes were on me again. She leaned in and kissed my lips gently.

"Let's go home," she said.

I nodded. Home had never sounded better than it did right then.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**_ Here's the next chapter, I think you are all in for a bit of a surprise! Hope you enjoy it and thanks for the great feedback, I love it so much!_

* * *

The minute Casey, Jake, and I came through the front door, Edwin barreled down the staircase, Lizzie following not too far behind.

"What happened?" Edwin asked immediately, I guess more curious than I had thought.

Casey and I looked at each other. When I didn't respond immediately, Edwin let out a disappointed noise. "Oh no. What happened?"

I raked my hand through my hair. "She's…not the person I wanted her to be," I said simply.

"She was terrible," Casey couldn't help but blurt, and Edwin and Lizzie both looked up at her in surprise. "She insulted Derek, my mom, _and_ me."

Lizzie's eyes flew to mine. "What did you do?" She knew I wouldn't have let anyone insult me…or, more importantly, Casey.

"Yelled at her and took off," I kicked my feet up onto the table. "One thing's for sure. I'm definitely not going to see her again."

Edwin nodded. "Me neither," he stated firmly.

"You can, Edwin--" I began.

But he shook his head. "No."

And I simply nodded. I wasn't going to push him. And I didn't want her insulting Edwin, too. _I_ was the only one who could do that.

"Gah!" cried Jake, breaking the tension and making us all laugh.

I didn't bother telling my dad about what had happened over my mom's house. He never asked about the visit anyway, like he was pretending that I hadn't gone to see her. Nora didn't ask about it either, unless she asked Casey when I wasn't around. But Casey didn't mention it to me, so I assumed that it had never been brought up by her mother.

This family seemed to want to bury anything argumentative and just always pretend that we were a happily joined family. I'm sure Nora and Dad never mentioned to any of their friends that their children had had a baby together.

Alice Venturi never called back again. Even the next month, on Marti's birthday.

Jake was growing every day. He smiled a lot now. Mostly at me and Casey. For Christmas, Nora took a picture of the three of us together. Casey dressed up Jake in a little elf costume. I protested it at first, of course, but Casey begged me to just let Jake try it on so that we could see him in it, and I caved right away. He just looked so damn adorable that I had to relent. He definitely made the cutest baby elf. Casey dressed in a slinky red dress that she looked gorgeous in, and had me wear a green shirt. We posed near the Christmas tree, our happy little family.

When the photo came back, I held it in my hand and just stared at it, a faint smile on my face. It was a perfect picture; Jake was smiling brightly as Casey and I both held him. But I couldn't shake the odd feeling I had as I studied the photograph.

"What's wrong?" I felt a hand on my back as Casey sat down next to me at the table. The ominous feeling I had must have been showing on my face.

I shook my head. I was probably just being paranoid. "Nothing," I gave an uneasy smile as I looked up into Casey's wide blue eyes.

She didn't look convinced, but didn't push it. I wish I had told her about the feeling I had. I wished that I had believed the feeling myself.

The next evening, just three days before Christmas, Nora suggested that I take Casey out for dinner, that it would be nice for the two of us to get away for a bit and spend some time together because I had been busy with hockey and Casey was busy with a sudden homework overload. It was the first day of winter break, and it was clear to see that Casey and I were both exhausted.

I nodded at this suggestion, and looked over at Casey. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

"You don't mind watching Jake?" Casey glanced over at her mother.

Nora smiled. "Of course not. George is working late and the kids are all over friends' houses tonight. I really don't have anything else to do." Her smile widened. "Plus, you know I love spending time with my grandson."

I chuckled. Nora had gotten quite attached to my little guy. Dad seemed to, too. In fact, the whole family was attached to him. There was always somebody fawning over him. Casey joked about how spoiled Jake was with all of the attention. But he seemed to love every minute of it, always smiling and googling at his admirers.

"Alright, then," Casey gave me a saucy look. "I'll go get ready." She gave my arm a squeeze before taking off.

The phone rang, and Nora grabbed it. "Hello?" she asked and I looked around for the newspaper to read the funnies or fill in the hard words on the crossword puzzle for my dad.

"Hello?" Nora asked again and I looked up at her. Her eyebrows were knit together in puzzlement. "Hello?" she questioned one more time and then shook her head, setting the phone back down. She looked over at me and shrugged. "Must have been a wrong number."

I simply nodded, opening the Toronto Star and thumbing through it. My stomach grumbled as I flipped through the pages, and I sighed, thinking about how I hadn't eaten in hours. I gave up on the newspaper and walked over to the bottom of the stairs.

"Casey, come on, I'm starving here!" I called up to her.

"I'm almost ready!" she called back and I rolled my eyes. Sure. Then, "Come up and change your son's diaper!"

I scowled, but jogged up the stairs and into Casey's room. As soon as I walked inside, I could see Jake grin up at me from his crib.

"Hey buddy, you stinky?" I asked him with a smile and scooped him up into my arms. He reached up for me and I kissed his tiny hand. I easily changed him and then lied back on Casey's bed with Jake on top of me as we waited for Casey, who must have been in the bathroom.

Casey finally emerged, and I let my eyes move slowly down her body. She was in a sexy little dress and her eyes sparkled, pleased as my gaze lingered on her every curve. I sat up with Jake, not taking my eyes off of my girlfriend in front of me.

"Maybe we should just stay here," I said, my voice suddenly husky. She knew what I meant and her laugh rang out musically.

"Oh no, I didn't get all dressed up just so I could get undressed a minute later," she said playfully, sitting down on the bed next to me.

I feigned a look of disappointment and she smiled, leaning over, her lips just millimeters from my own. "Later," she whispered a promise and leaned back again.

"Tease," I said, but smirked to myself.

Jake gave a noise of agreement and I smiled down at him.

"Let's go, I'm hungry too," Casey said, standing up.

We brought Jake down and handed him to Nora, who took him happily. "You two have fun," she smiled. She seemed to be much better with the whole idea of me and Casey being a couple. Or at least she was becoming good at _acting_ like it didn't bother her that her children were dating.

"Thanks, Mom," Casey kissed her cheek and Jake's, and took my hand.

"You be good, buddy," I warned Jake with a smile and he grinned back up at me, all gums. I laughed and kissed his tiny nose before we left.

We should have never left that night.

But we did, and we actually had a really nice night out together. Casey and I had a quiet dinner and got to catch up with each other. We really hadn't had much alone time together in the past couple of weeks, mostly because hockey had taken over my life for the winter season. So I was either in school, at a practice or game, or sleeping, exhausted from said practice or game.

"I miss you," said Casey quietly, and I felt my heart skip a beat at her words.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around much, Case," I told her, reaching across the restaurant table and placing my hand on top of hers. "I don't have any games for the next week, and practice isn't that long, so I'll have a lot of time at home."

She nodded. "I know, hockey's important to you."

"You're more important to me," I told her automatically, and she looked surprised at how quickly and easily those words flowed out of my mouth.

"You and Jake are the most important things in my life," I continued, on a roll now. I just wanted her to know that, in case she ever doubted it. "Don't forget that."

She smiled, looking at me with love, and I felt my neck flush. Sometimes I still felt uncomfortable with that goopy, mushy stuff. It was weird how it had become more natural to me, though.

Casey laced her fingers through my own and we finished our dinner with our hands still joined.

It wasn't very late when we got back home. Casey called out for her mother, and Nora came into the living room from the kitchen, a wide smile on her face as she dried her hands on a washcloth.

"Derek, Casey, did you see our guest?" Nora gestured to the empty couch and we both looked at her as if she was insane.

Nora stopped and looked around. "She must be upstairs or something," she looked slightly confused.

"Who, Mom?" Casey asked, wondering if her mother had finally lost it. I wasn't so sure she hadn't myself.

"Alice," Nora said, making me freeze in place.

"My mother?" I managed to ask, never expecting that one.

Nora nodded, her smile returning. "She game to visit, isn't that nice?"

Casey and I just looked at each other. _What could she possibly want?_

"Mom?" my feet began moving upstairs. She wasn't in the bathroom. I checked my room, Casey's room, Marti's room, Lizzie's room, and even ran up to Edwin's room. Nothing.

I had a horrible thought as I ran back down the stairs. "Where's Jake?"

"Up in his crib sleeping," Nora said quickly.

My heart stopped all together. "No, he isn't."

Casey's eyes enlarged and I could see her physically weaken. She slid down to the floor and I ran back outside. I knew I hadn't seen a car in the driveway when I pulled up to the house, and there were no new cars around.

I didn't want to believe it, but I knew deep down in my heart what had happened.

My mother had kidnapped Jacob.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **_Sorry this chapter is kinda short, thanks for all the reviews, you all know how much I appreciate them! Enjoy!_

* * *

The police were called and searched Alice Venturi's house. She was nowhere to be found. George and the kids came home to help out in anyway that they could, but the truth is that they could do nothing. We just had to wait for the police to track my maniac mother down—if they could. 

I tried to stay positive and keep my head clear. I had to for Casey.

Casey was inconsolable. She had been sobbing for four hours straight, her eyes red and angry, her whole body trembling with fear and anger. I was ready to get in my car and join the police in tracking my mother down. But I had to stay with Casey… plus I don't think it would be good if I got my hands on my mother. I was a little more than pissed off at her right then and there.

Casey clung to me, then to her mother, then to Lizzie, and back to me again. She could barely breathe through her hysterical sobs. The only words she had said in the past four hours were murmured pleas of "I want my baby."

I gritted my teeth every time I heard those words from her, anger and pain stabbing at my heart. Without Jake, I felt like a piece of me had been ripped out—a piece of my heart.

"Derek, maybe you should bring Casey upstairs. She's worked herself up so much that she's probably going to pass out from exhaustion soon," Nora said gently to me. She had tear marks down her cheeks and her eyes were bloodshot as well.

I nodded solemnly. "You'll call me when you hear something," I didn't ask her. And I opted for the word "when" rather than "if."

"The second I do," Nora promised, and my dad wrapped his arms around his wife, looking quiet and pained as well. Even Marti was quiet and sullen. Edwin was talking to a police officer, filling him in on everything that he knew about my mother. Lizzie was at his side as usual, his silent source of support.

I pulled the sobbing Casey into my arms and easily lifted her up, cradling her against me. Her hands went around my neck weakly as I trekked up the stairs with her. I decided that being in her own bedroom with Jake's crib probably wasn't a good idea at that time, so I took her into my room instead. I left the door open so we could hear if anything went on downstairs, and only turned on my computer desk lamp before setting her down on my unmade bed. I gently took her shoes off, and she watched me through her tears. She didn't look comfortable in her stunning but short little dress, so I took that off of her and slid one of my large T-shirts over her head before untangling my blankets and pulling them over her.

I kicked off my sneakers and climbed onto the bed next to her, wrapping her up in my arms protectively.

"Shh," I whispered in her ear as she cried. "They'll find Jacob, don't worry about it, Case. I promise you we'll get him back." And we would. Because I would do anything to get my son back.

"Will… will she hurt him?" I heard Casey ask shakily, her voice hoarse and deep.

"No, no honey," I rubbed her back. I hated my mother with a passion now, but I knew that she would never hurt her grandson. At least, that's what I felt in my heart. I refused to believe otherwise.

"Wh-what does she w-want with h-him?" Casey asked, her sobs subsiding as I continued comforting her.

"I don't know," I said honestly. I had no idea why the hell she had taken him.

"I want my baby," she sniffled quietly, burying her face in my chest. My shirt was now soaked with tears, but I didn't care. I ran my fingers through her hair soothingly.

"I want him too," I told her softly, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. I loved that little guy more than anyone could imagine. "We'll get him back, baby, I promise we will. I'll never let anyone hurt our son, okay?" I heard her start to settle, and continued rubbing her back and gently playing with her soft brown hair. After a few minutes, I knew she was asleep. I stayed there for awhile, glad that Casey was resting, holding on to her. It wasn't so much as for her comfort, but it was for my own, too. Holding Casey like that made me actually feel like things were going to be okay.

I started to get anxious, wanting to know what was going on downstairs, and so I willed myself to detach my body from Casey's. I pressed a kiss to her forehead and quietly slipped out the door. I bounded downstairs. It was very late, but everyone was still in the living room. Dad and Nora were talking to two police officers, Lizzie and Edwin were sitting on the couch talking quietly and seriously, and Marti was asleep on my favorite chair.

"Any update?" I asked hopefully as I approached my Dad.

He shook his head. "Sorry, son. There are a bunch of officers combing the area. They're on the phone with the airport, too."

My eyes widened. "They think she took Jake away? Like _away_ away?"

Nora shrugged gently. "We don't know, honey. All we can do right now is just let the police do their job."

I was getting angry again. "There has to be something that I can—something—DAMN IT!" I shouted, my temper getting the best of me as I kicked the wall. I felt angry tears falling down and suddenly Nora's arms went around me.

"I love him," I choked into her shoulder. "I just love him so much."

"Oh, I know, honey," her own tears flowed freely as she rocked me in her arms. "He'll be fine, sweetie." She kissed my head and I felt the warmth of motherly love. How ironic.

"We may have found them," I heard a police officer say and I bolted up and out of Nora's grasp.

"What?" I looked expectantly at the officer who had spoken as I wiped my eyes lamely.

"We found an Alice Marie Jones that matches your description. She was at the airport two hours ago with a baby Henry Jones," the policeman had a notepad out and was scribbling stuff down as he spoke.

"Jones is Alice's maiden name," my dad said with a slow nod. "She doesn't use it anymore. She kept my name."

"Where is she now?" I asked impatiently. It had to be them.

I heard Edwin ask in a dismayed voice, "_Henry_?"

"On a flight to the United Kingdom," the officer supplied. "We'll call London Heathrow Security and have them grab her when their flight lands."

I gaped. "London!"

The officer nodded and I sat down, feeling suddenly too exhausted to stand. Then I thought of Casey. I wanted to tell her what was going on, but I also knew that she needed her sleep. But I knew that if I was the one who had fallen asleep that I would want to be woken up immediately with that news.

After mulling it around for a few moments, I went upstairs and into my bedroom where Casey was sleeping. Her face was screwed up in worry even in her slumber.

"Casey," I gently shook her. She didn't move. "_Casey_," I said a little bit louder.

"Jake?" Casey gasped, her eyes flying open as she awoke with a start.

"Shh," I calmed her down, instantly taking her hands in mine. "They found them."

Casey let out a whimpered cry of relief. "Where?"

"They're headed for London," I told her slowly.

"London?" Casey looked completely bewildered.

I nodded, lacing my fingers through hers. "They're going to grab them as soon as their flight lands."

"So Jake's okay?" Casey seemed to hold her breath.

"He seems to be," I gave her a firm nod.

"Oh thank God," she breathed. She seemed to relax a little bit. But I knew she would not be fully relaxed again until she had Jake back in her arms. Neither would I.

"So now what do we do?" she whispered after a few moments of silence.

I stared down at her red eyes. "We just wait, I guess. He'll be back with us in no time, honey. Get some rest."

"I don't want to sleep," she said quietly but stubbornly. I couldn't help but give a bit of a chuckle at how she sounded like such a little kid.

"Just rest then," I told her, lying down on the bed and pulling her against me. She seemed to fight it for a second, but then relented and laid her head on my chest, listening to my heartbeat as we both thought about having our son back with us, safe and sound.

* * *

I don't know how long the two of us were out for, but I knew that when we woke up I couldn't believe that I had actually slept with all that was going on. I must have worked myself up into exhaustion, too.

Nora woke us up gently and told us that they had gotten Alice and Jake. Both were fine, and in British police security. They would be flying back in the afternoon.

"So when will Jake be back _here_?" was all Casey cared about.

"Late tonight," Nora said. "It's only 7 in the morning. You two should try to get some rest for now. Jake's in good hands." She gave a small encouraging smile to the two of us before leaving, shutting the door gently behind her.

"I don't think I can wait that long," Casey sighed heavily. "I just want him here with us."

"Me too, Case," I kissed her cheek and hugged her tightly. "He'll be back with us tonight. And then I'm never letting the two of you out of my sight again."

Casey gave a gentle chuckle. "Ditto." She placed a kiss on my temple and cuddled up against me.

We didn't sleep. We just lied in bed together for hours, not saying anything, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Each of us was deep in our own thoughts—thoughts that revolved around Jacob Michael. I knew it was going to be pretty much the longest day of my life, waiting for him to come back home to us.

Nora tried to get us both to eat, even bringing up brunch trays to us, but we could only nibble. I guess neither of us had much of an appetite. Nora did convince us to take showers, though, hoping that it would liven us up a little bit. I let Casey have the shower first, and she came back with sweatpants, a sweatshirt, wet tangled hair, and still a tense expression on her face. I told her to relax and gave her some entertainment magazines for her to look through while I was taking my shower.

Showering actually did refresh me a little bit, but not much. I still had that nagging feeling of something missing in my heart and it hurt. Even though I knew Jake was alright, I just really needed him home with me and Casey.

I pulled on sweatpants and an Our Lady Peace T-shirt from a concert I went to a few summers ago. I found Casey on my bed, actually thumbing through the magazines I had given her. She sighed when I sat down next to her.

"Waiting sucks," she said bluntly.

I chuckled, pulling her closer to me. "Yeah, it does." I kissed her forehead and ran my fingers through her wet hair, combing it out gently.

"I bet he's scared without us," her voice came out muffled and I could tell she was trying not to cry again.

I pushed away the maddening thought of little Jake frightened and alone, not knowing what was going on and where his mommy and daddy were. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the fruity smell of Casey's shampoo.

"He'll be back with us soon," was all I could say to comfort us both.

* * *

It ended up being the longest day of my life. All Casey and I did was fidget and apprehensively look at the clock every two minutes. Everybody kept trying to get our minds off of Jake, but it was impossible.

We kept ourselves near the phone in case there was any news, so when it rang around 4PM, I grabbed it before it was even finished with its first ring.

"Hello?" I hoped I didn't sound too psychotic.

"Mr. Venturi?" asked an official-sounding voice.

"I'm Derek Venturi," I responded.

"Mr. Venturi, this is Jordan Glendale with British Air. We have flight information for you. Your son will be arriving on Flight #4298 from London-Heathrow at approximately 20:25."

My eyes searched wildly for a pen and paper, and it seemed that Casey, who was practically on top of me trying to listen in on the phone conversation, knew what I was looking for and frantically thrust a notepad and a pencil at me.

I jotted down the information. "Is my son alright?" I had to ask.

"He's fine, sir. He's in good hands," Jordan said and I let out a heavy breath of relief. Casey must have heard too because I felt her relax next to me.

"Thank you," I said to the man and we hung up. Casey immediately launched herself at me, giving me a tight hug, and before I had the chance to react, she was leaping onto her feet.

"Let's get to the airport!" she exclaimed excitedly.

I smiled as she ran to the closet to grab her jacket. "Case, the plane doesn't land for another four hours."

"So?" she shrugged, shoving her feet into her tennis shoes. She bit her lip, pausing. "I should go get Jake a jacket, hat, and mittens. It's probably cold out." She ran past me and up the stairs like she was being timed or something.

I went into the kitchen, where Nora and my dad were sitting at the table, drinking coffee quietly, an air of tension around them. They wanted Jake back safe and sound as well.

When I told them what the man on the phone had told me, they seemed relieved.

"I guess we're on our way to the airport now," I informed them about how Casey wanted to get there as soon as possible.

"I'll come with you," my dad said, suddenly on his feet. "I'll drive. It's starting to snow outside."

I gave him a small smile of thanks and went upstairs to grab my sneakers and my girlfriend. I found Casey in her bedroom, packing Jake's diaper bag.

"I can't wait to have him in my arms again," she told me, filling the diaper bag with _way_ more of Jake's things than needed.

I nodded, feeling the exact same way. She took my hand as soon as she was done, giving me an excited smile, and practically yanked me down the stairs as quickly as possible.

We were off to go get our son.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **_Here's the next chapter... enjoy and thanks for all of the feedback, I love it :-)_

* * *

I sat in the front with my dad and watched Casey's legs bounce nervously in the back seat where she sat impatiently. She was clutching Jake's diaper bag to her like it was some kind of treasure everyone was out to try and take away from her.

I myself tapped nervously on the glass of the window, alternating between looking at Casey to gazing at the falling snow outside. I glanced down and realized that I, too, was fidgeting nervously. Stilling my legs, I took note of the time. There was traffic because of the snow, so it was taking a bit longer to get to the airport than usual. But we still had about three hours before Jake's plane was due to arrive.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Casey suddenly blurted in annoyance.

"We'll be there in about ten minutes, Casey. Relax," my dad said, looking at his stepdaughter through the rear-view mirror.

I looked over and threw her a comforting smile. "We've still got a lot of time, Case."

She nodded glumly, going back to staring out her window.

We did make it there about ten minutes later, and my dad dropped us off right at the British Air terminal. I took Casey's hand and we ran inside while my dad yelled to us that he'd meet us inside after parking the car.

My eyes scanned the area, wondering where we were to go next, when I heard Casey give a cry.

"What!" I yelped, startled, snapping my head to my girlfriend. She clutched my hand tighter, pointing ahead of her. On the screen in front of us listed Jake's flight number…and the word "DELAYED" next to it.

"Dammit," I cursed, raking a hand through my hair in frustration. I looked at Casey, who was biting her lip, visibly upset by this news. "It must be because of the snow. Maybe it's not a long delay." I tried to stay positive for her, and took her with me to the front desk.

I told the lady at the desk with the British accent what flight I was looking for, and she told me that it had, in fact, been delayed. She was not sure for how long. But she gave us the gate number and told us that we could wait over there.

"Thanks," I said to her, and pulled Casey along with me.

"I hope they feed him and change his diaper," Casey muttered as we settled down at the gate waiting area.

"I'm sure they're taking good care of him," I put an arm around her and she snuggled into my shoulder.

My dad came over to the gate, which was empty sans me and Casey, and asked what was going on. Of course he hadn't bothered to check the screen when he walked in. It was a wonder he had found us.

"The flight's been delayed," I told him, rubbing my thumb over the smooth skin of Casey's palm.

Dad didn't look very happy about then, and walked away to go call Nora on his cell phone to update her. I heard Casey's stomach growl next to me and looked over at her. She was staring sadly out the window at the snow. I stood up and she immediately looked up at me inquisitively.

"I'm going to get us something to eat," I told her, digging into my pocket to make sure I had brought my wallet in my rush out of the house. Thankfully, I had.

"I'm not hungry," Casey said solemnly, relaxing back down in her seat, curling her legs under her childishly.

"I don't care, I'm gonna make you eat," I told her firmly. She hadn't eaten anything since Jake had gone missing.

Casey just pouted, but didn't protest as I turned on my heel and went to go search for some food. The first thing I found was a McDonalds, so I got Casey her favourite fast-food treat and myself a Big Mac and a Coke.

"Thanks," Casey took the food glumly from me but didn't open the bag.

"Eat," I eyed her assertively.

She sighed heavily, but complied, opening the bag up to search through its contents. She gave a tiny smile over at me when she saw what I had gotten her.

"Thanks, Derek," she said more gently, and I felt relieved as I watched her bite into her burger.

We sank back against each other tiredly after we finished our dinner. I stroked Casey's hair, trying to get her to doze off for a little bit. I couldn't tell if she had fallen asleep or not, but I knew that we both bolted upright when we saw three airport security officers walk over to the gate.

"Mr. Venturi?" they looked over at my dad.

"Yes?" my father immediately walked over to them, hanging up the cell phone he was on.

"We're here to take Alice Venturi into custody as soon as the plane arrives from London," one officer said. "And we'll make sure that your son is returned to you safely and securely."

"Actually, it's my grandson," my dad nodded over towards me, and the officers all turned their heads. "That's my son. He's Jacob's father."

"Oh, we're sorry about that," the officer actually looked slightly embarrassed and the three walked over to me and Casey. "Mr. Venturi, we'll make sure that your son is returned to you safely and securely."

I nodded, and Casey breathed a grateful "thank you" as she clutched my arm tightly.

"Will the flight be arriving soon?" my dad asked.

One officer shrugged. "We haven't heard anything. But the weather is making it difficult."

"What happens if they can't land?" Casey asked. Her voice was soft and timid, very different from the assertive Casey tone I was used to.

"The flight will be redirected," the officer replied.

"When will we know if it has been redirected?" I asked. My eyes kept moving to the large window. The snow was really picking up. I didn't want to think it or anything, but chances of the flight landing here were looking less and less possible.

"As soon as we get word," the officer said. "In fact, we'll go check and see if there's been any word yet."

"Thanks," I mumbled absently as they took off.

I looked down at Casey to see that silent tears were streaming down her face.

"Oh, Case," I immediately sat down and pulled her onto my lap, enveloping her in my arms.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled into my shoulder. "I just want him to come home. I can't wait any longer."

"I know, honey, I know," I soothed, caressing her back and pressing my lips to her soft-but-tangled hair. "We'll get him back. It might just take a little bit longer but then we'll have him back with us. At least for another eighteen years," I tried to make it light and chuckled at myself.

Casey looked up at me and gave me a sad smile. It was small, but it was still a smile. A small victory for me.

"Let's talk about other things," Casey said quietly. "I need to take my mind off of it or I'll go crazy."

I raised my eyebrows. "Okay…" I gave her an impish smile. "How about we discuss when we're gonna start on a little brother or sister for Jake?"

That got me a big Casey laugh, just what I was hoping for. "How about after we graduate?" she said with a grin.

I gave a mock pout. "That's not for over a year!"

"Exactly!" Casey laughed.

"Fine, fine. But we can still practice in the meanwhile, right?" I wiggled my eyebrows, leaning in closer to her.

"Oh, definitely," Casey smiled, and I kissed her soft lips.

"Love you," I mumbled against her mouth before pulling her in for another tight hug.

She snuggled into me and I stroked her back until I felt her breath even and knew that she had fallen asleep. It wasn't long before one of the officers came back. He saw that Casey was asleep, so he quietly told me what was going on.

The plane had been redirected. It was landing in GMIA—the Greater Moncton International Airport—in New Brunswick and would be stationed there until the weather let up here. I closed my eyes, sighing heavily, trying to take in the news.

"When will that be?" I asked.

The man looked sorry to say that, "It could be a few hours, could be until tomorrow. Or even tomorrow night."

"And Jacob?"

"He's still in proper, secure custody. He's in good hands."

I rubbed my eyes with my free hand and stroked Casey's hair absently with the other. "What should we do?"

The man looked at the sleeping girl in my arms. "Nothing we can do but wait. Take the pretty lady home. We will call you as soon as we hear anything."

Casey shifted in my arms, and I realized that she had been up throughout the entire conversation. "No…please…can we stay?"

The officer shifted his weight where he stood and scratched his dark moustache. "There's nothing you can do here. Mind as well go home and get some rest."

"I can't really rest until Jake is back with us," Casey said, sitting up in my lap. "I need him back with us." She bit her lip and I could see how wildly torn apart she looked. It was how I felt but wouldn't let her see. Couldn't let her see. Because I had to be strong for her.

The officer gave a slow nod of understanding and walked away, leaving us in our peace. My dad came over, having heard the conversation.

"Casey, I think you'd feel better if you had a hot shower and a nice meal and had some rest on an actual bed," he said to her.

"No," my stubborn girlfriend shook her head indignantly. "I'm not leaving this airport until I get my baby back." At her last two words, her voice wavered, and I saw a tear fall from her bloodshot eyes. She turned to me. "Derek, you can go if you want to, but I'm staying here."

I studied the anxious girl on my lap and shook my head. "Case, I would never leave you here," I reached out and stroked her cheek. It was wet from her tears and slightly flushed. I glanced up at my dad. "Dad, you go home. Fill everyone in. Get some rest. Casey and I will be fine here."

My dad looked very hesitant. But I knew that he could tell that Casey and I needed our alone time, and there was nothing he could do here. He gave in.

"Fine, but I want you to call me as soon as you get word," he said, eyeing me seriously. "I want to be here when that plane lands." He used his lawyer tone, and I nodded, promising him that I would. Casey and I didn't have our cell phones with us, so he gave us his, along with a bit of cash for food.

"I might be back if the streets are bad," he said, pulling on his jacket.

"We'll be fine," Casey said, not really listening to him as she stared over at the "delayed" sign they were putting up at the gate.

I said goodbye to my dad and pulled Casey tighter to me. She sighed in my arms, leaning back against my chest.

"Am I a terrible mother?" she asked quietly, absently fiddling with my fingers latched at her abdomen.

"What?" I frowned over at her. Is that what she thought?

"Do you think Jake will be traumatized from this whole thing and need, like, major therapy when he gets older and never forgive me for it?"

I rolled my eyes. "Case, you know that it wasn't your fault. It's my stupid crazy mother's fault. Jake's fine, and he most likely will never remember this." I pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You're a good mother, Case. You really are. I wouldn't want to impregnate anyone else but you."

I got a chuckle out of her with that, and I smiled with amusement.

"You better not," she looked over at me, her eyes teasing. She gave me a peck on the nose and snuggled into me again. We were relaxing, but it still felt like something was missing.

Jake.

"Please let him be okay," I mouthed to God or whoever was listening as I stared out into the dark snowy sky.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **_Here's the last chapter of this fic! I hope you all enjoyed it! And please check out my other current LWD fic "Parties Weren't Meant to Last" and, of course, look forward to more Dasey fics from me in the near future! Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!_

* * *

It was hours and hours before a group of police officers came walking over to us. I quickly sat up straighter, and woke Casey up in the process. She rubbed her eyes up at me, sleepy and confused, and I nodded over to where the police were walking in. Instantly she sat up, completely awake.

"What's going on?" she practically demanded, clutching Jake's diaper bag to her still. She hadn't let it go since we arrived at the airport.

"The plane has been cleared for take off from Moncton," one officer informed us. "It'll be arriving here in about an hour and a half."

"Oh!" Casey let out a relieved gasp, collapsing against me. "I'll go call George!" she rushed off like the man had said that the flight we actually be landing in ten minutes.

"Everything's still okay?" I asked coolly. I really wanted to know if Jake was still alright. Not that I would believe that he is really okay until he is safe in my arms again.

But the officer who told us about the flight could obviously see right through me. "Your son's fine, Mr. Venturi. And your mother—"

"I don't care about her," I said quickly, interrupting him. I would never forgive her for this one. Never.

The officer just nodded, and they moved over to the other side of the gate to leave me alone. I'm sure that they could tell I was a bit… tense. Of course, who could blame me? My own mother had tried to kidnap my son. What if she had succeeded? What if she had gotten him to wherever the hell she was going across the damn ocean and changed their names and I never saw my baby again?

Just the thought of it made me shake with anger.

Casey came back and looked concerned when she saw me. "Derek? Derek, what happened?" She wrapped an arm around my trembling body.

"I can't believe she did this," I said through gritted teeth.

There was a pause of silence, and then Casey spoke calmly. "I'm not going to blame her or anything, as long as I get Jakey back."

My eyes flared. "Casey, I'm going to press charges!" I exploded. "I am NOT going to let her get away with this. She took our SON!"

But Casey remained composed. "She _is_ still your mother, Derek."

"As far as I'm concerned, I never had a mother," I spat.

Casey just soothingly rubbed my back, trying to relax me. "Whatever you think is right, Derek. I'll let you handle that part. I just want my baby." I heard her voice break at her last sentence, even though she was trying to seem so strong for me. I looked over at her to see her blue eyes swimming with tears.

"Okay, Case," I let my features and voice soften, and pulled her delicate frame to me. I didn't mean to upset her. "Don't worry about it. You just think about how we're going to spoil Jake when we get him back." I kissed her forehead and she laughed, sniffling back her tears.

"How do you spoil a baby?" she asked with a smile.

I smiled back at her. "I don't really know but I'm sure you'll find a way."

The whole family came to the airport, excited to see Jacob again. Nora and Lizzie hugged Casey and Edwin gave me a sympathetic pat on the back. Marti jumped into my lap and told me about how she and Nora had baked cookies to celebrate Jake coming back home.

"But babies can't eat cookies so we'll just have to give him milk," Marti said matter-of-factly.

I gave my little sister a smile, glad that everyone was here.

The anticipation was killing us all. Every one of the MacDonald-Venturi clan leapt up when the officers came over to tell us that the plane was now landing. Casey was at the window in a flash, her eyes tilted up towards the sky as if she would be able to see Jake on the plane. Finally, the plane was in sight.

"How long does it take to land!" she screeched irritably as the plane circled above the runway.

I walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulders, trying to calm _her_ down this time. My whole body was tense but I remained silent.

In fact, the whole gate seemed to be silent. Unless I was just tuning everybody out as I watched the plane finally set its wheels down on the ground.

"I need everybody to remain away from the door as we make sure all of the passengers get off the plane," some lady who worked for the airline announced on the loudspeaker. Casey and I watched as the three police officers walked over to her, ready to get Jake safely off of the plane.

We both held our breath as the doors opened and the officers went in. My lungs felt like they were going to explode, but I couldn't take a breath until I saw him. My son.

And one of the officers came out, carrying a baby car-seat. Casey rushed over to him, despite the airline attendant's calls for her to back away. The officer smiled at Casey.

"He's fine," he told her and let her take the car-seat from him. Casey peered in and instantly burst into tears. I shakily walked over to her and looked at my son. He was curled up in the car-seat sleeping peacefully, one tiny thumb stuck in his mouth.

I murmured my thanks to God as I lifted Jake's tiny body out of the car-seat, tears blurring my eyes as I did so. Jake woke up instantly, and his big blue eyes looked up at me.

I didn't hide the tears as they fell down my cheeks.

"_Oh God, my baby_!" Casey cried out and I let her take Jake from me. "_My baby, my baby_," she whispered over and over again as she showered kisses all over Jake's tiny face. He just stared up at her curiously. She hugged him tightly to her and then looked over at me.

I gave her a watery smile, reaching over and wiping the tears off of her face. She beamed and held Jake out to me, allowing me to take him. I pressed a kiss to his bald little head.

"We missed you, little guy," I croaked out, looking down at his small face. He reached up at me as if telling me that he was okay. A fresh batch of tears fell from my eyes, and Casey let out a sob of happiness, pressing her face against my shoulder in relief.

"THEY'RE JUST CHILDREN!" we suddenly heard a scream from the other side of the door. I knew that voice. I would know it from anywhere.

Two of the police officers burst through the door, dragging a fighting Alice Venturi with them.

"THEY CAN'T TAKE CARE OF MY GRANDSON!" she continued yelling. "THAT SLUT SEDUCED MY SON AND GOT HIM TO GET HER PREGNANT! YOU CAN'T LET HER HAVE MY GRANDSON!"

Casey gaped and I reached over to her with my free arm, firmly pressing her against me. And I held my little family as I glared at my mother with hatred.

Finally Alice Venturi seemed to notice me and Casey. "Derek, my son!" she gave me this huge smile. "I was just trying to get my grandson away from that slut!" she practically spat at Casey. "She's an unfit mother!"

My eyes narrowed and I quickly handed Jake over to Casey.

"Derek, don't," Casey murmured to me, trying to stop me, knowing what I was going to do.

But I didn't stop. Because I couldn't let her talk about the mother of my child that way.

"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!" I growled, charging right for her. The police officer who had gotten Jake safely to us stopped me just before I reached my mother. He held me back so I couldn't get at her, and I didn't fight him. All I really needed was my mouth.

"YOU WERE THE WORST MOTHER ON THE PLANET!" I yelled. "JAKE IS LUCKY TO HAVE CASEY FOR A MOTHER! AT LEAST SHE _LOVES_ HIM! DID YOU EVER LOVE ME, MOM? DID YOU!" I saw red as I screamed at her, my whole body pumping with adrenaline and the tears streaming down my cheeks angrily.

Alice Venturi looked like she had been slapped in the face. And I liked that look. A lot.

Suddenly I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye and out of nowhere I found that Edwin was at my side.

"Derek's right," he said angrily. "You were a horrible mother. And Jake is lucky to have such good parents!" His face was red. I could see him trying to control his anger. I had never seen my little brother so mad before. "And don't you _ever_ come near my nephew again!"

I stared over at Edwin in awe.

And a silent Alice Venturi was taken out by the police in handcuffs.

We all watched as Lizzie ran over to Edwin and planted a big kiss on his lips.

I looked over and could practically hear my dad and Nora both panicking in their heads, '_Not them too!_'

Edwin looked at Lizzie in shock when she released him.

"That was amazing," Lizzie said reverently and then hugged him. Edwin hugged her back, his shocked look slowly turning into a shy smile.

I looked over at Casey. She was nuzzling our son while looking over at me proudly. I walked over to her slowly.

"You have the best daddy in the world," she whispered to Jake while still looking at me with her gentle Casey smile.

I gave her a smile filled with love and wrapped my arms around Casey and Jake. My family.

"I love you both," I whispered, kissing each of them on the crown of their head.

"Let's go home," my dad's voice suddenly sounded. It was an awkward tone for him, and I knew that it had been a bizarre past few days… well, past year for him. He wrapped an arm around Nora, who was carrying Marti, and they trekked off. Edwin and Lizzie followed, their hands linked. The blush on Edwin's face still hadn't gone away.

And I smiled, looking over at the most important people in my life. Casey and Jacob.

"Yeah, let's go home," I kissed them each again and we followed the rest of the MacDonald-Venturi clan out of the airport.

* * *

**the end :-)**


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